The Three-Leaf Clover
by GengaJupite
Summary: The first time they met she kissed him. The second time she smelled his face like a dog. Sora's boring, average life was set on a straight course until he met Kairi, the most spontaneous girl in existence. He's plain, she's anything but, and he can't always follow her completely, but sometimes the guy aiming the spotlight is just as important as the star it's shining on. SoKai
1. On the Night I Met You…

Hey, everybody, GengaJupite here! It seems I can't stay out of the KH fandom, despite my efforts to keep myself writing only two multi-chaps at a time. This will be my second KH story, and for those of you who read _All's Fair in Love and War_, this is the SoKai I mentioned, though I didn't plan on writing it for quite some time. Well, you can ignore that statement because about a week after I posted the epilogue to that one, I suddenly got hit with inspiration for a new plot. This one should be quite a bit more structured than AFiLaW was, as I don't plan on deviating from my plotline the way I did with that. Anyway, that's enough for now, so let's get started!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. All rights go to Square Enix and Disney as its respective owners.

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_**The Three-Leaf Clover**_

_Prologue: On the Night I Met You…_

All was still on the evening that the thick clouds rolled in above the city. The streetlights flickered dimly, illuminating the brick-paved streets in a dull glow. Most houses and apartments kept their lights turned off at this hour, and the city itself seemed to sleep under the blanket of condensation floating overhead. With the chilly weather, it would not be long before the first few snowflakes began to descend upon the sleeping town.

With large headphones covering his ears, Sora paced down the empty streets of Twilight Town. He wore a nondescript expression on his face, keeping his hands in his pockets to warm them. In his right hand he held his trusty music player and in the other a note from his younger brother Roxas, stating that he would be working late. With nothing of particular interest to keep him at home, Sora decided to take a walk through the sleeping city, as he often did at times like this.

The spiky-haired brunet scoffed as he passed by a sign advertising the Clock Tower Hotel. If he had one munny for every time some misinformed tourist took a trip here under the impression that the city was perpetually stuck in one time of day, he would probably be a very rich man. He had no idea where such an absurd urban legend had come about, but rest assured, Twilight Town was named for its beautiful appearance at dusk, not some ridiculous assumption that it could keep the sun in one spot indefinitely.

As a chill wind blew by, Sora shivered slightly and zipped his jacket up to his neck. Sighing from the slight added warmth, he watched a snowflake gently float down through the fog of his breath. Casting his gaze upwards, the snow seemed almost like tiny cottonseeds, floating aimlessly in the wind as they descended upon the land.

Turning at one of the many intersections, Sora found himself traversing through one of Twilight Town's many residential districts. He knew the city well enough that he could wander pretty much wherever he felt like, but because of recent economical expansions in the past few years, there were a number of areas he had yet to explore. On evenings when he had nothing better to do, he usually spent his time wandering through these places, learning the layout of the town and how each section was like or unlike the others.

Suddenly and without warning, something ran into him from behind, and because he was unaware of the oncoming collision, Sora was promptly knocked to the ground. Grunting in discomfort and reaching for the headphones that fell off his head, he angrily looked up to see a redheaded girl catching her balance before running off without a word or even gesture of apology. He had to admit that he didn't stand out much, aside his hairstyle, but that girl acted as if he hadn't even been there.

"Stupid ditz," he muttered under his breath, placing the headphones around his neck and brushing himself down as he stood back up.

As he was about to continue walking, something on the ground caught his attention. Stooping over to pick it up, he realized it was a wallet, most likely dropped by the girl when she crashed into him. Now, normally after being knocked over and left without so much as an apology Sora would simply ignore any problems associated with said person who'd gotten him, but he wasn't vindictive enough to steal a girl's wallet after so small an incident. While he was certainly annoyed, he knew that the right thing to do would be to return it to her while he had the chance. Sighing, he stuffed the wallet in his back pocket and began to chase after the girl, who was now quite a fair distance ahead.

"Where the hell is she running off to in the middle of the night?" he grumbled, panting as he started gaining on her.

He silently hoped that no one would be awake to see them, as it probably looked like he was some shady character trying to get some action from an innocent girl wandering the streets at night. Trying to convince the police that he was simply trying to give back her wallet after she knocked him over would probably be next to impossible. Given his track record of being a delinquent at school, even his police officer uncle would have a hard time believing his story, given the circumstances.

With that thought in mind, he figured that he was probably close enough to call out after the girl without causing too much noise.

"Hey!"

Obviously surprised by the outburst, the redhead quickly spun around; however, the weight from the large bag slung over her shoulder flung her around harder than she'd intended, and she just so happened to step onto a patch of black ice as she stumbled off balance. Letting out a light squeal, Sora watched as the girl's feet slipped out from under her and she fell to the ground hard, knocking herself unconscious as she did so.

"Ugh, you've got to be kidding me," Sora groaned as he slowed down beside her. As if the circumstances hadn't been bad enough already, now it looked like he was some kind of mugger or rapist, and all because he was trying to be the good guy to a clumsy ditz.

Unsure of what he should do, Sora looked around and shook her lightly, then a little rougher with each subsequent shake. Luckily she still seemed to be breathing, but he dared not slap her or yell loudly in an attempt to wake her up. At this point, he simply wanted to avoid drawing any more negative attention to himself, though the situation had already reached a fairly dire point of no return.

The easiest thing to do at this point would be to leave her and her wallet, but he wasn't really the type of guy to leave a girl lying out in the cold, especially since it was snowing. Seeing no other option at this point, Sora sighed and slung her weighty bag over his shoulder. Then, after a solid fifteen minutes of struggling to do so, he managed to get her lifted onto his back, though he probably wouldn't be able to hold her up for very long. To make matters worse, this was one of those unfamiliar sections of town, so he had no clue which direction to start walking.

"This bag weighs as much as she does," he grunted, readjusting her as he looked for some place where he could at least lie her down comfortably.

As luck would have it, a small park loomed about a block away, and Sora wasted no time in laying her down on a bench upon reaching it. He rubbed his sore shoulder and gratefully dropped the large bag on the ground next to him. As curious as he was to know what was making the bag so heavy, he knew better than to go through a woman's belongings, even if said woman had caused him no end of grief in the extremely short time he'd become aware of her existence.

Now that he was here, Sora wasn't exactly sure what he should be doing. Would it be okay if he left her now? The gazebo overhead would protect her from any snow, and the bench seemed like it would be more comfortable than anywhere else he could think of leaving her. It wasn't like he had any sort of obligation to stay with her; he could simply leave her wallet and go back to wandering the streets like nothing happened.

While that truly seemed more favourable at the moment, his conscience told him that he should try to wake her up, even if it was the middle of the night and she would probably stay knocked out until morning. He certainly didn't want to stay out all night in the freezing cold and stand guard for this random girl, but if he left, then there was the risk of an actual thug coming along and having his way with her. Considering that she wasn't a particularly ugly girl, he doubted she would get left alone if some goon really did wander by.

Stepping a little closer to her, Sora was able to get a better look at her face. While his initial thought had been simply that she wasn't ugly, he could now see that she was actually quite attractive, cute even. Her shoulder-length, crimson hair rested a bit messily beneath her head, and her creamy, smooth skin seemed almost too perfect to be real. As his gaze wandered downward, he couldn't help but blush at her athletic figure. She most certainly wasn't the most well endowed girl he'd ever seen, but her…womanly features were not lacking by any standards.

Sora jumped when she shifted slightly, groaning as she began to stir. He had planned to stay with her until she woke up or until daybreak, whichever came first, but he hadn't thought far enough ahead to consider what he might do in case she woke up. Now that it was happening, he was in full-blown panic mode.

Unable to decide on what to do, he simply stared as she opened her large, indigo eyes. It seemed to take her a moment, but the moment she locked eyes with him, both individuals simply stared at one another in shock. Sora's hand fidgeted as he tried to reach into his back pocket, but he was afraid that moving too quickly might freak her out. If that happened, she would probably scream and cause a scene.

"U-Uh, 'morning." His mouth almost seemed to move on its own, and he quickly bit onto his tongue to prevent anything else from escaping.

The girl blinked a couple of times, though her nervous expression seemed to fade a bit after she'd properly assessed his words. She obviously didn't seem comfortable with the situation, but Sora was relieved that she appeared to be slightly more at ease.

"Um…where am I?" she asked, quickly glancing around before turning back towards him.

Now, how was he supposed to answer? Saying something like "At a park" seemed a bit too…blunt, but it wasn't like he knew where they were. And should he tell her that he carried her here after she fell over and passed out? Wouldn't she freak out if she found out some random guy picked her up off the ground and brought her to some park in the middle of the night? At the very least, she would get really uncomfortable.

"Oh, wait, I know this place," she said as her eyes flicked around a bit more. "I guess I didn't make it very far from home… Damn."

Make it far? That meant she was running away, right? In any case, it was no business of his. Now that she was awake and seemed to be fine, the best thing for him to do would be to return her wallet and be on his way. After all this running around and stressing out, Sora wanted nothing more than to find his way out of this section of town and go home.

"I, uh, found your…well, actually, you dropped this," he stated awkwardly, fumbling around for the wallet in his back pocket. Pulling it out, he held it out to show her.

"My wallet!" she said somewhat enthusiastically, hopping to her feet and retrieving it from him. "Hey, thanks! I don't know what I would have done without this!"

"N-No problem," he answered shakily. Why was he feeling so nervous still? It wasn't like this was the first time he'd ever talked to a hot girl before. "J-Just make sure you don't lose it again…and you should watch where you're going when you're running."

She tilted her head with a confused look on her face before realization suddenly hit her. "Omigosh, you're that guy I knocked over before?" she gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. "I'm so sorry! I was in a rush to get away from home and I totally knocked you over without saying anything! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Whoa, whoa, I'm fine," he responded, holding his hands up to stop her from overwhelming him with her concern. "A-Anyway, you seem all right, so I guess I'll be on my way now."

As he turned and began to leave, the girl suddenly called out to him, forcing him to turn around. "Wait!"

"What is it?"

Jogging up to him with the large, heavy bag slung effortlessly over her shoulder, what she ended up saying caught Sora completely off guard. "Can you hang out with me?"

Dumbfounded by her question, he simply stared at her with his mouth partially hanging open. It took a moment before he could actually form any sort of response, though he felt pretty stupid for what he eventually ended up saying.

"Uh…come again?"

"I asked if you could hang out with me." Apparently she didn't find her question to be strange.

"…Not to seem rude, but…why?"

She blew a raspberry like a horse and brushed a few hairs from her face, clearly not wanting to answer his question. "Well…I need to kill some time… I mean, if you're going home, then I guess I can find something else to do…"

This definitely wasn't a regular situation. What kind of girl runs away from home, knocks a guy over, slips on a patch of ice and knocks herself out, and then asks if the guy she knocked over wants to hang out in the middle of the night?! This might happen to some of the crazy people at his school, but Sora was a normal guy; this kind of stuff just didn't happen to people like him! Besides, she was still a complete stranger, so wouldn't killing time be a bit weird? For all either of them knew, the other could be a total creep, not that Sora was, though.

"I guess I could," he answered slowly, shrugging and brushing some snowflakes from his hair. "I probably wouldn't have slept if I went home anyway."

Her face instantly lit up into a big smile and she skipped around him in her enthusiasm. "Yay! Thank you! Oh, I'm Kairi, by the way. Kairi Lea."

"Sora Gainsborough."

"Sora, huh? I like it. Sora. Sooooraaaa. Heehee."

If she weren't so cute, he would probably think she was straight up weird, possibly even a bimbo. Just what kind of girl was this Kairi anyway? He didn't like to generalize, but most girls he knew that were as attractive as Kairi generally had less than favourable personalities. Then again, it was too soon for him to decide whether or not she was actually cute or if this was all some kind of act. After all, not many normal people try to befriend random strangers in the middle of the night.

"So, Sora," Kairi said as they began walking down the street, "where are we headed?"

It hadn't occurred to him that they would need a place to go, and considering she was the one who wanted to hang out, shouldn't she have planned where to go? It wasn't like this was a date or anything where he had to take charge.

"No clue," he answered plainly, putting his hands into his pockets. "I usually just wander around. Is there anywhere you want to go?"

"Mm…" She tapped her chin with her index finger and hummed in thought. "How about the beach?"

"Pardon?"

"The beach. You know, that sandy thing on the edge of the ocean."

"Yeah, yeah, I know what a beach is. It's just…it's the middle of the night…and it's snowing…"

Kairi giggled and began walking backwards in front of him, which made him nervous considering how clumsy she'd already proven herself to be. "No one said anything about swimming, silly. I just like the sound of the waves, and it's far enough away from my house that I'll feel comfortable."

While he couldn't say he followed her logic completely, Sora had no objections to going to the beach. He'd wandered over there enough times that he wasn't exactly in a position to judge her for wanting to go there now. Besides, he, too, liked the sound of the waves, and when there were no people around or birds squawking like they did in the daytime, it made the location that much more peaceful.

As the two unlikely companions made their way down to the waterfront, they engaged in idle chatter, though Sora spent most of the time listening to Kairi rattle on about whatever came to mind. He had honestly never attempted to take part in such a random conversation, but the redhead never seemed to mind his lack of input for her seemingly endless supply of topics. From the way things were going, she seemed happier to have someone simply listen to her than an actual conversation partner.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Sora asked once they reached the water's edge, to which she nodded in response. "I, uh, know it's none of my business, but I was wondering… How come you're running away from home?"

Kairi's bubbly demeanour seemed to deflate, and she puffed up her cheeks in a manner that read 'pissed off'. Afraid that he'd overstepped his boundaries, Sora braced himself for some kind of retaliation, though he was relieved to find that it never came. Instead, Kairi sighed and turned her gaze towards the water.

"You might think it's a dumb reason, but…I got in a fight with my brother."

"Your brother?"

"Yeah," she said, squatting down and gesturing for him to do the same. "My parents' work has them travelling all around the world, so my brother is the one who takes care of me. I won't go into detail, but basically we both got really pissed off with each other and I ran off. He's not the type to give chase because he says that I'll "just come crawling back sooner or later.""

"Will you?"

"Well…I mean, obviously I have to go back at some point, but it won't be as soon as he thinks! I have to prove him wrong somehow, right?"

"Heh, seems pretty reckless if you ask me."

Kairi scrunched her face at Sora, but seemed more amused by his statement than angered by it. "Well, what about you? Does your family know that you're wandering around the streets this late like some shady thug?"

Sora gave her a hard look for a moment before turning his attention to the water. "It doesn't really matter what I do. It's just my younger brother and me sharing an apartment. We sort of do our own thing."

"What about your parents?"

Sora didn't answer, continuing to stare out to at the water as the sound of the waves filled in the awkward silence. Because it had happened such a long time ago, Sora had gotten over the pain of talking about his parents' accident, but regardless of whether it hurt him or not, it wasn't the most pleasant way to continue a conversation. Typically, when given the option, he opted not to speak about it, as doing so would only make the situation more depressing.

"S-Sorry," Kairi spoke quietly when she realized she must have hit a nerve. "If it's a touchy subject, you don't have to talk about it."

Turning back towards her, he gave her a small smile. "Don't worry about it. Anyway, it's not like my brother is the only family I have. My aunt and uncle live here in this town. We used to live with them, but it seemed like a good idea for us to move out and get our own apartment once I was old enough to rent one under my name. They help us with monthly payments and some other financial stuff, but we're basically living on our own and paying most of the rent ourselves."

"Wow, either you have a really cheap apartment or you have a kick-ass job," Kairi chuckled.

"Hey, you're the homeless one right now, so I don't think you have the right to diss my apartment," Sora chuckled as well. Yawning, he stood up from his squatting position and turned his head down to Kairi. "Actually, that reminded me that I have to work tomorrow. I don't have to be up really early or anything, but it is…almost three in the morning. I should probably start heading home."

"Oh…" she responded sadly, also standing to her full height. "We didn't even get to hang out for very long…"

"Yeah, well, that's how life is sometimes."

Kairi didn't say anything, but the way she was eyeing him made it seem like she was trying to imply something. Oblivious to what it was, he simply watched as she bit her lip and twisted her body back and forth with her hands behind her back. With each passing second, she seemed to be making her expression more and more innocent, and Sora was sort of getting an idea for what she was trying to say. However, to be sure, he had to ask her first.

"Did you need something else?" he asked, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

"W-ell…" she dragged out the word, stalling for time as if it might help to persuade him. "It's really cold outside…and I'm kind of homeless at the moment."

"That's unfortunate. You picked a bad time to run away."

"Right… A-Anyway…I don't really have anywhere to stay right now…"

"Bummer, maybe you could call up a friend. Though I would assume all your friends are sleeping right now."

"I think they are… So, I was wondering…and I know we just met, so I'll understand if you say no…could I maybe…you know…if it isn't too much trouble… I know you said you live with your brother, so you can totally turn me down…but, if it's okay… I don't mean to impose…"

Figuring that he'd had enough fun toying with her, Sora just laughed at her roundabout methods of trying to ask him if she could stay at his place. In any other situation, he likely would have turned her down in the lightest way possible, but for some reason, he simply couldn't say no to Kairi. There was something about the pretty redhead that made him unable to turn her away, even though she was basically still a stranger to him. He wanted to believe he wasn't shallow enough to do it simply because she was cute and attractive, but seeing as he still hardly knew her, it wasn't completely implausible.

"Come on," he chuckled when she still hadn't managed to say what she needed to. "You can stay for one night, all right? After tonight you'll have to find somewhere else to go."

Her oddly innocent expression instantly changed into a huge, relieved grin, and before he knew it, Sora found himself wrapped in a tight embrace from Kairi. He was thankful for the cover of darkness, as it hid his very prominent blushing from Kairi's sights.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, Sora! I promise I'll find a place to stay by tomorrow. I'll just call up one of my friends and then I'll be out of your hair!"

"Y-Yeah, make sure that you do," he stuttered, slowly leading the way as he tried to cool down his face, which, admittedly, wasn't very hard considering the frigid temperature outside.

When they reached his apartment building, Sora suddenly began to feel embarrassed. It wasn't as though his place was run-down or cheap; rather, it was the very definition of average. Stepping through the entrance and heading up the stairs to his floor, he realized that neither he nor Roxas had ever brought a girl back to their apartment, let alone having a complete stranger stay overnight. What would she think when she saw it? Would she be unimpressed? What if she was expecting something cool? He didn't really have anything he could call 'cool' in the apartment.

"H-Here we are," Sora said shakily, pulling out his key and unlocking the door once they'd arrived. Flicking on the lights, he cringed at the clothes lying around and the unwashed dishes in the sink. "Sorry if it's messy, but…well, there _are_ two teenage guys living here."

"Heehee, it's fine," she giggled, unfazed by the relatively small mess around the room. "My brother is the biggest slob in the world. Compared to his room, this place looks like a Swiffer commercial."

Sora chuckled nervously and gestured for her to take a seat on the couch. "Uh, d-do you want anything?"

"Mm, were you going to have something?" she asked, plopping herself comfortably onto the couch.

In all honesty, he had no idea if he was going to; it just seemed like a polite thing to ask, since she was a guest. He didn't usually eat or drink anything right before bed, but then it wasn't like he'd be falling asleep anytime soon at this rate.

"Well…I was thinking of making some…tea?"

"I'll have some too, please," she said sweetly, looking around the living space and its ordinary décor.

Unable to stop his hands from shaking, Sora started filling a kettle with water and placed it on the stove. Why he had suggested tea was beyond him, as he had never really been much of a tea drinker. In fact, the only times he ever drank tea were when Roxas made too much and didn't want to waste it. On that note, Sora became even more nervous, wondering how Roxas might react if he came home and saw Kairi here.

"So," Kairi said as Sora sat down next to her on the couch, "where's your brother? The only pairs of shoes by the door are ours. Does he wander the streets at night like some hooligan, too?"

"H-Heh, no, it's nothing like that," Sora chuckled shakily, failing in his attempts to keep his composure. "He works as a kitchen aid at some twenty-four hour restaurant. Since it's open all the time, he gets work hours pretty much whenever they need him."

"I see," she said, leaning back and relaxing a little bit more. "And what about you? You have a job too, right?"

"Yeah, though it's not as interesting as you're probably hoping," he answered plainly, getting up as the kettle began to whistle. "I'm working at a temp agency. They don't usually hire eighteen-year-olds, but I still managed to get the job somehow. I suppose I should thank my boss for being so laid-back."

"So you do office work and stuff like that?"

"More or less."

"…Ew."

He chuckled at her response, as he somehow expected her to find his job unimpressive. "Yeah, it's boring but it pays pretty well. I'd rather be financially stable than be picky about where I work, at least for now, anyway."

Bringing over two mugs of tea, he carefully handed one to Kairi, praying that his shaking hand didn't let any of the hot liquid spill onto her hands. Once she'd safely taken it from him, he let out the breath he'd been holding and sat down beside her once again.

"I guess we should figure out a place for you to sleep," Sora mused and took a sip of his tea.

"How about your bed?"

Sora had to physically restrain himself from spitting out his tea in a cartoonish fashion, though in doing so he ended up choking on the hot liquid instead. When he managed to catch his breath, Kairi's laughter stole his attention. She'd obviously meant to do that, though he didn't really see the humour in it.

"Hehe, that was way too easy," she laughed, somehow managing to keep her own drink from spilling.

Sora grumbled and coughed a bit as he extracted the last drops of tea from his windpipe. "In all seriousness, though, we'll need to find you a place where Roxas won't see you when he comes home." Stopping to think for a moment, Sora made a screwed up face when he came to a somewhat ironic conclusion. "Actually, now that I think about it, my bed is probably the best place, since we have separate bedrooms."

This time it was Kairi's turn to choke on her tea, though her coughing wasn't followed up by any laughter from Sora.

"W-What are you saying, S-Sora?" she questioned nervously, completely losing her playful tone from before. "I-I was only joking with what I said… B-Besides, we hardly even know each other–"

"That isn't what I meant," Sora explained before she got the wrong idea. "I mean I'll sleep out here on the couch or something and you can sleep in my room. You'll have to take your shoes in there too, but that way you won't get spotted when he comes home."

"O-Oh, that makes sense," she said, slowly calming down and taking a sip of her tea. "Is it really all right? If I steal your bed from you, I mean."

"I don't really mind," Sora said with a shrug. "It'll be easier for me to make up an excuse for why I'm sleeping on the couch as opposed to why I have a random girl staying overnight. But really, we should get to bed soon. Roxas will probably be home by four at the latest. I'll show you where my room is."

Standing up, he helped Kairi to her feet and led the way to his bedroom. Oddly enough, the idea of having a pretty girl sleeping in his bed didn't seem all that nerve-wracking when there was a reason behind it. He wasn't about to crawl into bed with her or anything, so any embarrassing mishaps would be avoided, assuming she didn't bump into Roxas on her way out.

"Oh, I'll grab your shoes," Sora said after he'd opened the door to his room.

"Thanks," she spoke quietly, lightly stepping through the doorway. "Hey, um…"

"What is it?" Sora asked, returning with her shoes in hand.

"This might sound kind of…weird…" she said slowly, a slight hesitation in her voice, "but…can I…can I…"

"Can you what?"

"Can I kiss you?"

As one might expect, Sora's mind instantly went blank, creating an atmosphere that almost demanded cricket chirping. Considering the small amount he had learned about Kairi in this short period of time, he was waiting for her to suddenly say "Just kidding" or "Too easy" but with each moment that her expression remained serious, he became less sure that she was playing around like she had been earlier.

"Hehe, o-of course," he answered jokingly, nervously scratching the back of his neck. "W-What girl wouldn't want to k-k-kiss some guy she basically begged to freeload off of?"

"So, you really don't mind?"

"N-Nope," he responded. While he was obviously nervous, Sora knew that playing along would be the best way to go about this. He didn't need to give her the satisfaction of teasing him again. Besides, being the average guy in life meant rolling with the punches, so playing along was a pretty natural recurrence for him. If he went along with the joke far enough, she would back down before he gave in. Though none had ever involved kissing, he knew from past experiences that this was how to deal with these kinds of situations.

Of course, his plan would have gone smoothly had it actually been a joke.

The last thing Sora expected was to feel the soft, warm squish of something pressing against his lips. Unable to move, speak, or react in any sort of way, his eyes shot wide open and he simply stared at the redhead whose lips were now pressed against his. What was he supposed to do now? Should he kiss her back? Maybe he should push her off of him. How was he supposed to know; what kind of experience could have prepared him for this?!

His nerves felt like they were on fire as they stood there kissing in the doorway to his room. She was too close for him to actually look at her, but the very fact that she was so close was reason enough to feel anxious. He was no expert on girls, but Sora could almost assuredly say that most girls did not usually kiss people they'd just met out of the blue. Then again, Kairi didn't seem to be like most girls; after all, everything that happened put her on the other end of the spectrum from the typical female in his age range.

By the time his brain began to function again, he realized that Kairi had already pulled away from him. Continuing to stare at her in disbelief, Sora slowly raised a trembling hand to his tingling lips, wondering if what just happened had been real or not. His face felt like it was cooking, and the amount of sweat that had accumulated on his palms was enough to fill a lake. However, judging from Kairi's lack of flushed cheeks or any sort of distinct expression, it seemed that she had not been nearly as affected by it as he had, assuming that kiss had affected her at all.

"Well…goodnight, Sora," she said quickly, taking her shoes from him and closing the door in his face before he had a chance to do anything.

He couldn't be sure how long he stood with his nose pressed against the door and jaw hanging agape, but when Sora finally managed to move away from that spot, he felt as though he had just finished running a marathon. Exhausted from the stress of everything that had happened in this one night, the brunet had no trouble shuffling his way over to the couch and passing out. Maybe he would wake up to discover that everything to do with Kairi had been a dream, though he somehow hoped that it had been real – at least, everything before the kiss, anyway.

The next morning, Sora awoke in an uncomfortable position. Groaning as he stretched out his sore muscles, he rubbed his eyes and saw what appeared to be a note sitting on the coffee table beside his head. Seeing that it clearly wasn't Roxas' handwriting, he quickly snatched up the piece of paper and read what it said.

_Sora,_

_Thanks for hanging out with me last night. I had a lot of fun playing around with you! I would have left you my number, but I don't have a cell at the moment. Too bad, but maybe I'll see you wandering around the streets again sometime. If you ever see me, don't be shy!_

_Kairi _

Slowly placing the note back down, Sora sighed and relaxed into the couch cushions. Apparently, everything that occurred last night with Kairi had been more than just a dream. Considering he wasn't one to go out of his way to do crazy things, the events of last night seemed almost surreal. Did things like this happen frequently for adventurous people? Maybe a better question would be: How many people are as weirdly upbeat and spontaneous as Kairi?

The sound of someone clearing their throat across the living space caught Sora's attention, and he quickly glanced over to see Roxas leaning against the wall by his room with an amused smirk on his face.

"I take it you had a fun night?" the blond half-chuckled.

"I don't know if 'fun' is exactly the right word to use," Sora responded and laid his head back down. "I'd go with…stressful…or confusing."

"Seeing how you ended up sleeping on the couch instead of in bed with that hot redhead, one of those words is probably better than 'fun.' Kairi, was it?"

Had it been any other person, Sora would have been annoyed that Roxas spotted Kairi on her way out, but considering how clumsy she proved herself to be, all he could do was laugh. He wasn't exactly confident that she would make it out without getting spotted, so the fact that she was seen only served to amuse him. Slapping a hand over his eyes, he smiled widely.

"Yeah, Kairi," he exhaled, peeking through his fingers to glance at the heart she'd drawn beside her name. "I hope…I get to meet her again."

* * *

It's a little long for a prologue, but once I started writing, I couldn't stop going. I already knew exactly how this prologue was going to play out, so all the ideas I had for embellishing what I wanted just started flying out of my head. I think that out of the three multi-chaps I'm writing at the moment, this one is going to be my favourite (at least, it feels that way right now). Oh and in case anyone was curious, my inspiration for writing this came about after I finished watching _ef: a tale of memories_, though I don't plan on using anything too much as direct references.

Hopefully this gives you a good idea of what Sora and Kairi are like. Obviously there will be some more detail on their characters, relationships, and whatnot in future chapters, but this should give a little taste of their personalities, at least for the time being.

I have high expectations for myself for this story, so hopefully you'll all stick around to see how it all plays out! Thanks for reading and please review!

_-GengaJupite_


	2. Now, We Meet Again

Holy crap, I was hoping this story would have a good start, but I didn't expect to get eight favourites within the first two days of the prologue being posted! You guys are awesome, and I'll do my best not to disappoint! I'm going to try to reach that ever-elusive three-digit number of favourites with this story. It'll be a huge challenge, especially since I haven't reached even half of that on any of my current stories, but if there were ever a story for me to go for it, then this would be it!

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one

* * *

_Now, We Meet Again_

Light streamed in through the high windows encircling the walls of the train station. The sound of hissing steam and the trains' brakes filled the building, overlaying any sounds the minimal number of people within the station may have been making. Occasionally, an incomprehensible voice would announce something through the PA system, though it seemed to be more of a formality about which trains were coming and going as opposed to anything someone might have to listen for.

The large clock atop the attached hotel rang out to indicate one o'clock in the afternoon. As most people were at work or attending school, only the staff and odd handful of others occupied the large building. Of these people were a pair of delinquents who often frequented this spot when school became too much of a hassle to go to.

"Geez, I thought you were gonna quit soon," Sora complained as he slid along the bench away from his silver-haired friend.

Smirking back at him, Riku shrugged as he lit the cigarette between his lips. "I'm working on it, all right?" he chuckled, purposely blowing the smoke in Sora's direction. "Besides, finals are coming up in a few weeks; I need to relieve some stress."

"Since when have you ever cared about your grades? You're planning on working after graduation, right?"

Blowing an O shape in the air, Riku shrugged again as he tapped off some ash. "Probably. The construction place I'm working at now said they'll offer me a full-time job as soon as I'm done with school, so I think I'll just stick with them until I can find something better."

"You take too many smoke breaks," Sora said, fanning away the bluish-grey haze that floated over to him. "What place is going to hire you to wreck your lungs?"

"Hookah lounge."

"…And that's better than your construction job?"

Riku laughed and stood up to stretch for a moment, breathing in deeply as his cigarette shrunk in size. "I'm kidding, Sora. Besides, I'm quitting, remember?"

"Could've fooled me."

"Hey, if you can spend all your free time wandering the streets looking for some girl you met, like, five months ago, then I can take my time getting over nicotine."

Sora opened his mouth to retort, but paused and closed it once he had fully processed Riku's words. Seeing that he had successfully thwarted Sora from arguing back, the silver-haired teen took one last puff from his cigarette before dropping it in an ashtray and lighting another.

Ever since that fateful night, Sora had been spending nearly all of his free time wandering the streets with the hope that he might run into Kairi again. For the first few weeks, he had no idea where to look, since she could have been anywhere that wasn't near her home. Having no luck, he eventually began to wander around the area where they had first run into each other; however, even to this day he had failed to encounter her again. Without a clue as to where she might be or if anyone might know who she is, Sora felt rather stuck.

"You want my advice?" Riku asked as he sat back down and leaned lazily against the back of the bench. "You should forget about her and move on. Is any chick really worth spending all your time on? You met her once in the middle of the night a long time ago; who's to say if she even remembers _you_ after all this time?"

It was a valid argument to make, especially since Sora had never particularly stood out amongst others. The only thing Kairi would have to remember him by would be his spiky hair, but that didn't really seem like it would be enough to get someone to remember him. It wasn't as though he was the only brunet with spiky hair, after all.

"Well…" Sora began slowly, "I mean, she did stay over at my place… That doesn't happen often with strangers, y'know."

"True, but did she pay you for your efforts? If you know what I mean."

Sora blushed and turned away from Riku, not wanting to see the sick grin on the pervert's face. "What?! No way!"

"Then you're forgettable."

"…You're a pig, you know that?"

Riku simply laughed, unfazed by Sora's embarrassed insult. "Heh, I smoke too much and I'm a pig, eh? I'd make some pretty good bacon. 'Course, I already know that the ladies love a nice slice of Riku meat."

Sora sighed and shook his head, though he couldn't help smirking at the ridiculousness of his best friend. He knew Riku too well to expect a clean conversation. It didn't matter what they were talking about; Sora knew full well that Riku could take the most obscure bits of any sentence and make them sexual.

"You guys are really going to get me in trouble one day, you know that?"

Sora and Riku both looked up to see a police officer standing before them. His expression was stern, though they could both see in his cobalt eyes that he was relaxed. Rather than panicking and trying to come up with an excuse as to why they were being a couple of troublemakers at the train station, both boys simply stayed as they were.

"You should ask for a new patrol route, Cloud," Sora suggested plainly, "that way you won't have to deal with us."

The blond officer chuckled and sat down on the bench between them. "See, that sounds good and all, but that just means someone else would get assigned to this route, and I doubt they'd be so lax about a couple of do-nothings hanging out around the station. They'd call your guardians, so Riku here would just have to talk to his parents, but whom do you think they call about you, Sora? That's right: me; after all, I'm still your uncle and technically supposed to be taking care of you and Roxas, even if you don't live with us."

Riku took a puff of his smoke and shrugged at the officer. "Eh, my folks wouldn't care too much. As long as I'm not failing and I have a plan after graduation, they don't really mind if I cut class."

Before he could take another puff, Cloud swatted the cigarette out of his hand and stomped it into the ground. Riku groaned but didn't bother lighting another one, instead vouching for some gum to freshen his breath.

"You're too young to be smoking," Cloud half-chuckled, half-sighed. "Anyway, you guys should be grateful you've got me. I know I've told you before, I don't mind if you're cutting class to go to work, but since you're just being a couple of troublemakers, I'm morally supposed to take you back to school. It's your last year of high school; shouldn't you be making memories in these last few weeks you have left?"

"Oh, I'll be making memories," Riku said deviously. "Their names are Xion, Olette, Shiki, Rosa, Rydia, Garnet, Serah, and probably a few more that I'm forgetting about."

Sora and Cloud both sighed and shook their heads, knowing that Riku was going to make some kind of remark like that as soon as he started speaking.

"I'm pretty sure all of them have boyfriends," Sora mused, standing as Cloud gestured for them to get up and follow him. "Well, except for Xion, but that's because _you're_ supposed to be at the dating stage with her…"

"Hey, we're not Facebook official, so I'm a free man until then," Riku laughed, though Sora knew that his friend wasn't the player he was pretending to be; at least, not when he was in a pseudo-relationship with a girl.

"By the way, Riku," Cloud said as the three of them exited the building and stepped up to his squad car, "I know one of the 'memories' you forgot about, and trust me, you're never going to forget about her."

"Oh? What's her name?" Riku inquired as he and Sora got into the backseat.

Smirking at them through the rearview mirror, Cloud started up the car and uttered only a single word.

"Herpes."

キングダムハーツキングダムハーツキングダムハーツ

"So, where should we go now?" Riku asked after Cloud had dropped them off at the school. "We didn't even wear our uniforms today, so we'd probably stand out more than we would if we just let them think we were away."

"I guess," Sora said while shrugging. Pulling out his phone to check the time, he slowly started walking toward the building. "It's the middle of fourth period, so we could always just sneak up to the roof or something. I'd feel kind of bad leaving school after Cloud drove us over here."

"And you call yourself a delinquent," Riku chuckled but followed after the brunet anyway.

As the two boys cautiously stepped through the entrance doors, they looked around to make sure no one was nearby to spot them. Knowing that they would basically be in the clear if they could make it past the main office, they stealthily maneuvered around the foyer to make sure they weren't seen. Successfully making it to the stairway, they silently fist-bumped and quickly made their way up the stairs.

"Do you really think one of the office people would come after us even if we got spotted?" Sora pondered as they climbed up to the third floor. "It seems like it would be more effort than it's worth."

"It would be for a regular student," Riku explained, "but you seem to forget that we're pretty infamous for our attendance records here. I'm pretty sure that you, Roxas, and I are all on the counselors' most wanted list right now."

"Heh, proba–"

"RIKU, GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!"

Stopping dead in their tracks, both boys slowly cranked their heads in the direction of the voice to see a short, raven-haired girl storming over to them, her eyes shooting daggers into their faces. Realizing whom it was, Riku started to run up the stairs, but wasn't able to get anywhere before the back of his shirt was forcefully grabbed. Pulling as hard as she could, the girl held nothing back as she threw him onto his back at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hehe, hey there, Xion. Wow, you're looking awfully hot in your…school uniform today…" Riku chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Shut it!" Xion growled, aggressively pulling her almost-boyfriend up by the collar. "In case you forgot, we have a project due tomorrow that I have done _all_ of the work on so far! Don't think that I'll let you go just because you 'forgot' your uniform!"

Before he even had a chance to plead his case, Xion had begun dragging him back to their classroom by the back of his collar. The way Riku just sort of sighed and let it happen made the situation look straight out of a cartoon, forcing Sora to stifle his laughter while Riku whined about being only one flight of stairs from freedom. Once they had disappeared into their classroom, Sora quickly made his way up the final flight of stairs, thankful that no one from his own class had come out to witness the scene Xion had just made. Pushing open the somewhat heavy door at the top of the stairs, he stepped out into the warm sunlight.

A breeze blew by as he walked forward, shutting the door behind him. Stepping toward one of the fences that circled around the roof's perimeter, he lightly clutched onto it and peered down. There wasn't anything particularly interesting to see by looking straight downward, but Sora liked that sense of danger, even though he knew that these fences were built to withstand hurricane winds. He had always found that a bit pointless, considering Twilight Town hardly ever got anything that could even be considered a windstorm, let alone a hurricane, but it certainly gave business to the company that advertised themselves with it.

Turning back towards the door, Sora walked around the side of the entryway until the ladder came into sight. Effortlessly climbing up and pulling himself onto the highest part of the roof, he nearly fell right off at the sight he was met with.

"N-No way," he muttered.

Lying on the highest part of the roof, apparently taking a nap in the sun, was none other than Kairi. He was so shocked by her sudden appearance that he simply stared at her with his jaw hanging agape. After months of searching for her, the strange girl who kissed him was here at his school, wearing a mahogany uniform indicative of being a student here. While he did tend to skip school on a somewhat regular basis, Sora was astounded that he had never once managed to run into her at or around his school.

A strange feeling of déjà vu enveloped him as Kairi began to stir from her slumber. It was odd, but he almost felt more nervous this time than the first time he had met her. What should he do or say when she saw him? Should he hide or run away? Would it be safer to act like they were meeting for the first time again? There was no way of knowing if she remembered him, and, as much as he wanted to believe she did, Riku's claims weren't _totally_ inaccurate.

Realizing it was too late to do anything once Kairi began to rub her eyes and sit up, Sora quickly sat and leaned against one of the large metal air ducts. He wasn't about to jump onto the lower part of the roof to avoid being noticed, so his only option was to be casual and figure out if she remembered him.

"Hmm?" Kairi hummed groggily, peeking through one eye as she turned towards him.

"U-Uh, 'morning," he said nervously, feeling strange to be repeating the situation he'd experienced months before.

At first, Kairi hardly did anything, yawning and facing her body towards him slightly more; however, after a few moments of staring at him through sleep-filled eyes, she seemed to have some kind of reaction, albeit not the one he was expecting.

"I'm hungry."

Sora paused as he stared at her blankly. She still seemed like she was half asleep, but she also seemed conscious enough to know what was going on. While he was prepared for her not to remember who he was, this wasn't exactly the way he had pictured their reunion to go down.

"S-Sorry," he apologized, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "I don't have any food on me."

Slowly looking back and forth as if someone else might appear and bring her food, Kairi sighed and laid herself back down. Just as spontaneously as she had proven herself to be, Sora stared confusedly at her as she logrolled over to him, accumulating a large amount of dust on her clothes as she did so. Not knowing what to do, he watched as she sat up and faced him directly. It wasn't until she began sniffing the air that he felt completely lost.

"U-Um, Kairi?" he said, completely foregoing the plan to see if she knew him first. "What are you doing?"

She stopped momentarily, but then began to lean closer to him as she continued sniffing. What was she, a dog or something? Even though he knew she was kind of out there, this Kairi didn't remind him of the Kairi he'd met back then at all. Maybe this was her twin sister or some kind of doppelganger. It seemed unlikely that two girls could look just like this and have some weird quirks, but Sora didn't have any other explanation for this sniffing Kairi's actions.

Before he realized, their noses were literally touching. Sora was stuck, completely lost and unsure of what to do. Her eyes were half open, but he was now convinced that she was more asleep than awake. Was she going to kiss him again? What kind of girl goes around kissing strangers?! Did Kairi have any sense of personal space?

Shakily grabbing onto her shoulders, Sora pulled the redhead away from him until she was at arms' length. As soon as he let go, however, she slowly started sniffing her way back toward him, as if entranced by some non-existent scent he was giving off.

"Sorry, Kairi," he sighed and brought his hands up to her cheeks. Pushing her back to arms' length, he gulped, shut his eyes, and clapped on her cheeks a few times.

"Ah! W-Wha–?"

Opening his eyes back up, he looked to see Kairi with an extremely confused expression on her face. Realizing his hands were still on her cheeks, he quickly took them off in a flustered manner and began turning beet red.

"Are you awake for real?" Sora chuckled nervously, trying not to meet her gaze as best he could.

"Y-Yeah, I am," she said lightly, rubbing her cheeks. "Um, do you always smack girls when they're asleep?"

Sora blinked and stared at her for a moment. Apparently she didn't realize what she had been doing a few moments ago. "O-Only if they're trying to smell my face like some crazy dog zombie person."

Kairi cocked her head back, seemingly not fully aware of what he meant. Of course, to Sora, it didn't matter whether or not she knew what she had just been doing. He simply wanted to know if she remembered him. He could ask about her crazy sleeping antics once the most pertinent issues had been resolved.

"Hey, wait a second," Kairi said, squinting her eyes as she began to examine his face a bit more closely. "You seem…familiar…"

"Y-Yeah, we've met before." Was this it? Was she going to remember who he was? Though he tried not to get his hopes up, Sora could feel his heart start beating faster as she pondered over his identity.

"Oh, you were that guy I met when I ran away!" she exclaimed excitedly, her eyes widening as she took on a bright expression. "That was so long ago! Wait…why are you on the roof of my school?"

Sora's insides were buzzing with contentment that she had remembered who he was. Smiling naturally at her, he glanced down at his attire before looking back up. "Heh, I'm not wearing my uniform, but I actually go here too. I was really surprised when I saw you wearing that uniform, though. To think that we go to the same school and haven't run into each other once in the past few months."

"Yeah, weird, huh?" she giggled, dusting off her clothes and moving to sit beside Sora instead of in front of him. "Hey, I feel bad but what was your name again? It was John, right? Yeah, it was definitely John!"

Sora blinked but laughed soon after. "Uh, it's actually Sora. Not sure where you got John from, but I suppose…there's one letter that's the same."

Kairi stuck her tongue out at him and laughed as well. "Oops. To be honest, when I re-meet people whose names I can't remember, I just say a common name off the top of my head and hope it's something similar."

"…That doesn't seem like it works too often. Do you actually know any Johns?"

"Heehee, not the point, Sora Gainsborough!"

"So you remembered my long, difficult last name but you couldn't remember 'Sora'? You're really something, Kairi."

For a moment, Kairi seemed surprised that Sora knew her name, but she quickly returned to normal. After all, by circular logic, if she knew his name, it would only make sense that he knew hers.

They sat in silence for a short period of time, and Sora began to feel strange about it. True, he had wanted to meet her again for the past while, but now that they had, he had absolutely nothing to talk about! The usual small-talk question would be "What school do you go to?" but she went to the same school as him… She didn't seem to be making much of an effort to start up a conversation, either, so the situation began to make him feel a bit uneasy. He needed something to get the ball rolling, at least.

"Hey," he said before giving himself a chance to think of anything. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," she answered simply.

Why did he always do this to himself? It was as if his mouth ran on autopilot as soon as he got the idea to start talking. Cursing, he racked his brain for something he could ask that wasn't completely stupid. Unfortunately, the only non-boring questions that came to mind were all sex-related, most likely from Riku's influence.

"Well…I was wondering…" he began, stalling with as many filler words as he could fit without sounding completely moronic. "I was curious…about…the first time we met. Yeah, that!"

"What about it?"

"Um…I wanted to know… Why did you suddenly kiss me?"

Kairi stared at him as if he still hadn't finished asking his question. Once again finding himself in an awkward bind, Sora twisted his mouth to the side and darted his eyes in all directions. Was it too forward for him to ask a question like that after just seeing her for the first time in months? Then again, asking about it was no more forward than the actual act of kissing him had been! Girls might be delicate people to talk about these things with, but Kairi's actions clearly showed that she wasn't exactly the shy type.

"Mm, why did I kiss you?" she mused, tilting her head upwards to think about it. "I guess…I just felt like it."

There was another awkward pause as she returned her gaze back to the brunet. Mirroring her reaction from before, Sora stared at her as if she had not given him the full answer yet. When their staring contest persisted for about a minute, he realized that that was all she had to say about the matter. Taken aback by the bluntness of why she had kissed him, Sora struggled to say something in response.

"Y-…you just felt like it? That's it?"

"That's it."

"You're not toying with me?"

"Nope."

"For real?"

"I'm being totally srs here!"

"…Srs?"

"You know, like srsly, but without the -ly."

"…Okay… Do you always go around kissing strangers in the middle of the night?"

"If they're up for it, I guess."

Sora sank back in his sitting position as he continued to stare at the unfazed redhead. How could she say things like that so…so…normally? Shouldn't girls have a bit more discretion; hell, shouldn't _anyone_ have a bit more discretion?! He could understand it if she said that she only did that kind of thing at parties or something, but she had basically just told him that she would kiss a stranger on the street if both parties were mutually willing!

Trying to calm himself down, Sora took a couple of deep breaths and relaxed a bit. Maybe he was overreacting. Just because she said that she would do that kind of stuff didn't mean she had actually done it; at least, not with anyone other than him. It was possible that she was just messing with him, knowing that he would freak out if she said something as crazy as that. If that had been her intention, then she certainly succeeded.

"My turn to ask a question!" Kairi suddenly cheered, cutting off any further thoughts that he might have had. "Hmm… Why aren't you wearing your uniform?"

Slow to react, Sora tried to collect his thoughts from the suddenness of her question. Not only had her outburst been completely random, but she was also asking quite a mild question in comparison to what he had just asked her, not that he was complaining of course. In any case, there was no reason to hide why he was in regular street clothes as opposed to his uniform.

"I was cutting class," Sora said with a shrug. "I usually skip a day or two every week, or a day's worth of classes throughout the week. School really isn't my thing."

"I bet that's why we haven't run into each other, then," Kairi chuckled, stretching her arms above her head. "As you can probably guess, since you found me napping on the roof in the middle of fourth period, I don't always go to class either. I probably don't skip as much as you do, but apparently it's enough that we never had the chance to run into each other."

"Seems that way," Sora chuckled as well, sliding down so that he could stare up at the sky. "Sometimes I skip so I can go to work, though. I prioritize my job over school. The other times, I'll usually just be hanging out around the train station with Riku."

"Riku… I think that guy hit on me before."

Sora grinned and shook his head knowingly. "Don't be offended; he's a shameless skirt-chaser. He's basically in a relationship now, but he still likes to pretend that he's sleeping around with a whole bunch of girls. Honestly, I don't know why he's my best friend."

"Heehee, sounds like you guys get along, though," Kairi giggled, also lying down so she could look at the sky.

As he was about to make another quip at Riku, Sora's phone buzzed in his pocket. Pulling it out, he looked to see that it was a text from Roxas.

_1 new message from: Roxas Fair  
__Hey, I'm at work right now and I left my wallet at home. I don't need it right away, but I was going to pick up groceries on the way back. Can you bring it to me before six?_

Quickly fingering his way about the touch keypad, Sora responded by saying he would bring it after school. Once the message was sent, he slid it back into his pocket and turned his head to face Kairi, who had also turned to face him, much to his surprise.

"Sorry, I peeked at your phone," Kairi admitted sheepishly, trying to give Sora an innocent smile. "Isn't Roxas the name of your brother?"

"Yeah, I'm surprised you remember," Sora said amusedly. "Why?"

"Oh, well," she began, her large, indigo eyes focusing away from his while she spoke, "it's just that his last name was…different from yours. Is he a stepbrother or something like that?"

The brunet wasn't surprised in the slightest at her question. In fact, most people who found out that his and Roxas' last names were different tended to ask if they were actually brothers by blood. It wasn't a particularly difficult thing to explain, but sometimes they tired of detailing their relationship and simply went with whatever people thought.

"No, it isn't like that," Sora answered plainly, turning his gaze back upwards. "Our parents didn't get married until after I was born. They were already planning to get married before my mom got pregnant, but because she did, there was a bit of a time constraint. The only reason my last name isn't Fair is because I was born early, so I'm technically a Gainsborough even though our parents are the same."

"Oh, I see. You guys don't live with them, though, right?"

"Yeah…that's right," he said quietly, hoping to avoid this conversation again. "Maybe I'll tell you about that some other time, though."

As if fate was on his side, the bell indicating the end of fourth period rang. Unexpectedly, Sora looked to the side as Kairi sat up straight. Shaking around to get most of the loose dust off, she turned to look down at Sora and smiled sweetly. He couldn't help thinking about how pretty she looked as she smiled down at him, and his cheeks flushed a light shade of pink as he tried to smile back.

"Well, it was fun talking to you again, Sora, but I'm gonna go to my last period class today. Who knows; maybe we'll see each other more often now that we know both of us go to this school."

Twirling around, she picked up the bag she had earlier been using as a pillow and skipped over to the ladder. Sitting up quickly, Sora called out to her before she could climb down and out of sight.

"Wait!"

"What's up?" she asked, only her head peeking up over the ladder.

"I, um… D-Did you ever get a phone? It'd be easier if I could text you or something… That way we won't have to risk going months on end again."

She smirked at him as the last few words slowly left his mouth. Blushing harder than before, Sora turned his head a bit, but made sure that he could still see her out of his peripherals. Flicking his eyes over to her briefly, she started giggling, probably because of how much he was blushing.

"Oh my, Sora, you're more forward than I expected," she laughed. "I didn't think you were the type to try scoring a girl's number; you really are Riku's best friend, aren't you? Heehee, well, to answer your question, yes, I do have a phone now, but I think I'll tease you a bit and make you wait until tomorrow if you want to get my number."

She slid down the ladder before he could say anything else. Scrambling towards the edge of the upper roof, he leaned over and called out to her before she could re-enter the building.

"Wait! How will I know when or where to meet you?"

The redhead paused for a moment, tapping her chin before the metaphorical lightbulb went off above her head. "Just come here at lunch tomorrow! Oh, and bring me something yummy! You can't expect to get my number for free, after all!"

Laughing loudly, Kairi slipped through the door and out of sight, leaving Sora alone on the roof. Flipping over so that he was once again lying face-up, the brunet closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. Smiling, he felt his insides warm at the thought of meeting with Kairi again tomorrow. Their meeting today had gone differently than he'd expected, but he couldn't say that he was displeased with it. Other than her sleeping dog act and a few awkward pauses, things had gone by rather smoothly.

"Getting her number for free? Didn't I offer her my house for free?" he chuckled to himself. Hearing the second bell that indicated the start of last period, Sora opened his eyes and started to sit up. "Maybe I should go to class for the last period too," he said; however, after one glance at his clothes, he laid himself back down and closed his eyes again. "Or maybe not."

キングダムハーツキングダムハーツキングダムハーツ

The school day had ended, and Sora had successfully managed to slip out of the building without being seen by any of his classmates or teachers. Once he had made it off the school grounds, he wasted no time in heading to his apartment so he could continue to avoid anything school-related.

Opening the door to the restaurant Cid's Grill, Sora stepped through the entrance with Roxas' wallet in his pocket. Sauntering over to the front counter, he waited until a cute blonde girl came to greet him.

"Hi, for one?" she asked.

"Actually, I'm here to see Roxas," Sora said, pulling the wallet out of his pocket. "He left this at home and asked me to bring it to him."

"Oh, you're Sora, then," she responded, surprising the brunet. "He's on break right now, but you can probably go into the break room with him since you're family."

"Thanks," he said, following the girl into the staff only area. Pointing him to a doorway that lacked a door, Sora thanked her again and headed into the break room.

"Hey, how was school?" Roxas asked in a mockingly parent-like way.

"Heh, I was at the train station with Riku until Cloud came and picked us up. Then I just hung out on the roof," Sora responded, taking a seat across from his brother and handing the wallet over. "Also, why does that hostess know who I am?"

Roxas tilted his head as he bit into whatever he had been eating, but realigned himself when he figured out what Sora was talking about. "Oh, Naminé? We usually take breaks together, so you've come up in conversation before."

Sora's neutral face morphed into a suggestive smirk at Roxas' statement. "So you take breaks together, eh? How long has this been going on?"

"H-Hey, shut up, it's not like that!" Roxas said embarrassedly, glancing at the doorway to make sure she wasn't standing over there. "We're the youngest ones working here, not to mention the only ones our age. It's just easier to talk to someone who isn't five or more years older than you, so we started lining up our breaks together, that's all."

"Well, she's not on break now. Am I interrupting your private time?"

Roxas groaned and smacked his forehead, earning an amused chuckle from his older brother. "What about you? You're still searching for that Kairi chick, aren't you?"

Rather than getting embarrassed like he usually would, Sora placed his hands behind his head and leaned back in the chair, grinning as he spoke down to his younger brother. "As a matter of fact, we ran into each other today. Turns out she goes to our school and doesn't like going to class much, either. I ran into her on the roof in the middle of fourth period."

At first, Roxas gave his brother a skeptical look, unsure whether he could believe him or not; however, he seemed to accept it, as Sora would have lied about it earlier than now if he had planned on making up some phony story. "Small world. So, did you hit it off and make plans or anything?"

"Eh, sort of," Sora chuckled. "She kinda teased me and said that I'd have to meet her on the roof again tomorrow if I wanted her number. I wouldn't call it a date, but at least she wants to see me again, right?"

Roxas shrugged and finished off the thing he'd been eating. "I guess. You're lucky you ran into her before you graduate, though. You'd probably just keep wandering around hoping to find her, which I'm sure was already a pain in the ass."

"Not really, I mean, I already spend a lot of my free time wandering around the city. Besides, I would've seen her at commencement, so we would have run into each other just before summer starts."

"Yeah, but now you have some time to get to know her before you start working all the time. It's not like you're taking the summer off, right?"

Sora turned his gaze out the window of the break room and exhaled slowly. "I guess you're right. Meeting her now is better than nothing, but I really wish it hadn't taken this long for it to happen, y'know?"

"Just be grateful it happened at all," Roxas jeered, tossing a crumpled napkin at his brother's head. "Anyway, my break's over, so you've gotta get out of here. Thanks for bringing my wallet."

Both of them standing to leave the break room, the two brothers headed back to the entrance of the restaurant. Sora made for the door and turned back for a moment to see Roxas and Naminé giggling about something. When Roxas looked over to him, Sora gave him a wink and a thumbs-up before turning around and leaving the building.

With his only errand of the day completed, Sora started for his apartment but changed his mind partway and began walking in the direction of the park where he had first spoken to Kairi. Maybe if he was lucky, she would be there, wandering around the same way he liked to.

"Just a few more weeks," he said as he paced himself down the street. "That's all I really have to get to know her. After that, I'll be lucky if I can get more than three days a week off of work."

Stopping to look at the school building in the distance, Sora smiled as he traced the rooftop fence with his eyes. For the first time in a long time, the brunet was actually looking forward to returning to that building tomorrow. For once, something worthwhile would be waiting for him, expecting him to come back, and it was something, some_one_ he genuinely wanted to return to.

"Looks like I'll be going to school more often."

* * *

Not quite as fluid as the prologue, but the goal of this one was to introduce all the main characters, even though Xion, Roxas, and Naminé didn't really get much face time. There are still a handful of other people that will be in the story, but they probably won't have important roles. That could change, of course, but for now these six are probably going to be the most recurrent people.

I sort of realized as I was writing this chapter that this story is a completely new branch of romance writing for me. So far, all the multi-chaps I've done have either had villains, extensive love triangles/polygons, or some kind of supernatural/catastrophic conflict, but this one is probably the most slice-of-life thing I've ever conceived, as it doesn't contain any of those. It'll be an interesting challenge, that's for sure, and definitely more character-driven.

Thanks to **KittyKat1217, darioflaman, Drzhar, **and **LinkMaster997** for reviewing! Just as a heads-up so that no one feels neglected, I only tend to respond to reviews that are long-ish in length. While I appreciate reviews of any length that provide some sort of opinion, it seems redundant for me to PM if the only thing I can say is thanks, as I always thank my reviewers in the closing A/N of a chapter.

Thanks for reading and please review!

_-GengaJupite_


	3. Learn, Live, Lips?

Didn't mean to put off writing this story for this long, but it's crunch time at school right now. I'm hoping to get at least two chapters for each of my stories out between mid-April and May, since my updating rate might be pretty slow before and after that. I can't promise anything, but I do look forward to writing this one the most of my three, so if I ever fall out of moderation, this one will likely be getting updated more consistently.

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one

* * *

_Learn, Live, Lips?_

"Hey, Sora, did Riku come to school today?"

"No idea. I haven't seen him, but I don't think he has to work."

"Ugh, I swear he'll be the death of me."

Sora chuckled as Xion quietly fumed beside him. Glancing up at the clock, he bit his lip in anxiousness as the minute hand moved one tick closer to noon. Time seemed to slow to a crawl whenever he attended class, and in a boring class like Historical Literature, the desire to fall asleep was simply too great to overcome. Why he had ever chosen this instead of a regular English class, he couldn't recall, but at least he knew not to do so for future reference. Well, he could if this weren't the last semester he would ever attend class.

Half-listening to what the teacher was babbling on about, Sora began to tap his foot and scribble in his notebook. Usually he would try talking to Xion, but since it was near the end of the year, she was actually taking notes on what was going on in class. Unlike her unreliable pseudo-boyfriend, Xion was a good student that had aspirations of some sort, though Sora would be lying if he could remember what they were.

Darting his eyes up at the clock again, it looked as though there were only three minutes left until the lunch bell would ring. All he had to do was last for three more minutes and he could head up to the roof to meet with Kairi.

All of last night and even earlier this morning, Sora had been trying to figure out ways to get to know her better. It wasn't as though they were going on a date, so he didn't have to worry about how he looked or where they should go, but the idea of talking to her still made him anxious. Even if she had a million things to say about herself, Kairi would eventually want to know more about him, and that was the main issue: Sora wasn't very interesting.

Sure, he had a job, he'd done some fun things in his life, and he lived alone with his brother, but if he had to count the number of things that made him different from most of the people in his school, he could probably fit them on two hands, and that was being optimistic. Sometimes he wondered if he was being too hard on himself, but the fact of the matter was that he wasn't being harsh; he was being honest. After all, he wasn't saying he was a lowlife with zero redeeming qualities; he was simply an average person, another face in the crowd, a rock in the rough.

Sora jumped when the bell rang, breaking him from his daydreaming. Apparently he'd lost himself in thought and managed to kill the last three minutes by thinking about nothing in particular. Content with the result, he quickly packed up his things and hurried out the classroom.

When he stepped out onto the roof, it seemed apparent that he'd been too excited, as there didn't appear to be anyone else up here yet. Thinking little of it, he headed around the side of the entryway and climbed up to where the large air ducts were. Seating himself at the edge so he could dangle his legs over, he began taking out the two plastic bags that contained food for him and Kairi.

A few minutes went by, and he began to wonder if maybe she'd forgotten. A few other people had come up onto the roof, but they were all younger than him, and Kairi definitely wasn't one of the people with them. Perhaps he was being overly anxious to see her again. Maybe he should have tried to play it cool and shown up late. It wasn't really his personality to act like that, but at least he wouldn't look desperate.

After about ten minutes, Sora began to feel justified in his anxiousness. She might have just been going to her locker or something in the first few minutes, but it shouldn't have been taking her this long to put her books away or whatever she was doing. Was it possible that she had forgotten? Considering what little he knew about Kairi, it would not be all that surprising if she really had forgotten about meeting him. Of course, that knowledge did not put Sora at ease in the slightest.

Sighing, he slumped his shoulders and slouched, allowing his body language to show exactly how he was feeling. He wanted to believe that she was just getting held up with something, but the longer he waited, the more uneasy he began to feel. Perhaps it would have been better if he hadn't gotten himself so worked up to see her.

"Guess who?"

And as quickly as his spirit had dropped, it was instantly picked back up by the sound of her voice, though she had covered his eyes so that he was unable to actually turn around and see her. Trying not to smile too widely, Sora contained his relief and settled for playing along.

"Gee, I dunno… Riku? Roxas?"

"Hey, you could've at least guessed a girl," Kairi pouted, uncovering his eyes and plopping herself next to him. Now able to see her, Sora could tell that she wasn't actually upset, but she did look pretty cute when she pretended.

"When did you get here?" he asked, scratching his head and glancing down by the entry doors. "I've been here since lunch started and I didn't see you come up."

"Heehee, that's because I got here before you," she giggled, snatching the plastic bag of food he'd packed for her. "I was hiding behind the air duct and I thought it would be funny to see how you reacted if I didn't show up."

The brunet cast her a puzzled look, unsure of how to react to what she'd just said. "Um, I guess that's fair enough, but…did you really have to make me wait for ten minutes? I really thought you weren't gonna show."

"Sora, Sora, Sora. A man should always be ten minutes early when meeting a girl on a date!"

"W-What?!" he spluttered, thankful that he hadn't started drinking his juicebox. "S-Since when did this b-become a d-d-date?!"

"You mean you don't like me?" Kairi whimpered, putting on a display of puppy dog eyes that would probably make an actual puppy feel bad.

"N-No! I mean, I do, but that's not what I meant! I mean, I don't like you in that way that we should be on a date… I mean, we're not even friends– NO! I mean, we're just sort of becoming friends, so I can't just suddenly date you… Not that I wouldn't like to, but I'm saying that I– wait, I don't mean that I want to, either, but… Ahh…"

Kairi was literally trembling from how hard she was trying not to laugh, so when Sora eventually gave up trying to explain himself, she practically burst. Feeling embarrassed, he turned away from the redhead, only to notice that the other people on the roof had all turned to see why she was laughing so loudly. He knew they wouldn't be able to read the situation from where they were, but it didn't exactly help that they were all staring in his direction.

"A-Anyway," he mumbled once her giggles had started to die down, "if you beat me here, does that mean you skipped third period just to do that?"

"Mhm," she answered with an enthusiastic nod. "I would've texted you to come meet me, but you never gave me your number."

"That's the whole reason I'm here now, isn't it?"

"No, you're here so I can give you _my_ number, not the other way around!"

"But…if I had given you mine and you texted me…then this whole meeting would be pointless…"

"That's kind of a mean thing to say."

"So is watching me sit here by myself for ten minutes."

As their back and forth banter continued, Sora started to realize that his nervousness from before had completely vanished. Was it because he was relieved that she had shown up, or was it that Kairi put him at ease? Well, to say she put him at ease would be a bit of a stretch, considering she was the whole reason he felt tense in the first place. Perhaps he had simply been overthinking things when she wasn't around; after all, they didn't seem to have a problem jumping straight into conversation, even if it was all over the place.

"You brought me fruit gummies?" Kairi asked as she dug to the bottom of the plastic bag.

"Yeah, is there something wrong with that?" Sora responded, putting his phone away once her number had been successfully stored in his contacts.

"I'm not a little kid!" she laughed.

"I beg to differ," he chuckled as she tore open the bag and popped one of the colourful candies in her mouth. "Hey, I was wondering: do you always come up here when you cut class?"

The redhead hummed as she chewed on the gummy, wavering back and forth as she thought about his question. "Most of the time. I'm not that good at sneaking around, so it'd be hard for me to leave campus. Besides, I would feel weird if I just left the school by myself."

"What about your friends? Don't they ever skip with you?"

"Not really, most of them are at the public school anyway, so it'd be a hassle to try and meet up with them somewhere."

"Makes sense," Sora mused, loosening his tie so that he could glance at Twilight Academy's emblem on his shirt pocket. "That's probably why Roxas doesn't skip as much as Riku and I do. Unless he has work, anyway."

"Hmm…" Kairi hummed, giving Sora a hard look. "You know, now that I think about it, how come you guys are attending a private school if you live on your own? You don't have to pay anything to attend a public school, and if you're just going to cut class anyway, then there's no point in paying for this school, is there?"

Sora chuckled dryly and turned his gaze to the city. "Heh, I kind of wondered that myself, but by the time I realized it I was already starting my senior year. I guess one of the reasons is that it's easier to explain why Roxas and I are living on our own. Since a bunch of people going here live in dorms or apartments, it isn't all that strange that we are too, even if our reasoning is different from theirs. We also don't have to spend much of our income on clothes."

"Guy clothes aren't that expensive," Kairi giggled, but seemed to understand what Sora was saying. "That makes sense, though. No one at this school would make a big deal out of you guys living on your own. I wish I had enough money to move out. Then I wouldn't have to deal with all of my brother's stupid rules."

"Isn't he the reason you ran away?" Sora asked, receiving a nod in return. "He must be pretty strict if he gets on your nerves that much."

"Not really," Kairi huffed. Confused by the contradictory nature of her words and body language, Sora raised an eyebrow and waited for her to continue. "He isn't strict or anything, but he makes me do all these annoying little things like taking out the garbage and washing the dishes and cleaning my room. I wouldn't usually care about doing any of that stuff, but it seems totally hypocritical since he never cleans up after himself! He's such a lazy bum."

"You know you'd have to do all that stuff all the time if you lived on your own, right?" Sora laughed.

"Nope, I'll hire a maid!" she said proudly, as if she had already done so.

"Uh, if you hire a maid, you won't have enough money to pay your rent… Do you even know how to survive on your own?"

The redhead stuck her tongue out at him but laughed anyway. "I'm kidding, Mr. Reality Check. Still, though, I wouldn't mind saving up to get my own place someday. I'll probably have to work all summer for that to happen."

It sounded as though this was something Kairi had already planned out. While it wasn't a groundbreaking goal that she was trying to achieve, it was something she was striving for, and in that respect she was already ahead of him.

Other than knowing he would get scolded, Sora had been avoiding the school guidance counselor for one main reason: his future plans. Not everyone who went to this school planned on going to some sort of post-secondary institution, but the small percentage that didn't all had some sort of reason. Whether they were succeeding their family's business or had some sort of career path planned out, those who weren't continuing education knew what they wanted to do, and at this school money wasn't an issue for any of them.

Unfortunately, he was a rather large subject of scrutiny, as he had never filled out any of the forms detailing what he planned to do after graduation. He had enough credits to graduate and his grades were passable, so it wasn't as though he would get held back for skipping too much, but avoiding the counselors had become more difficult as the year progressed. Was it so much of a problem if he didn't know what he wanted to do after graduating? College and university were out of the question, and he wasn't going to be climbing any corporate ladders as an office temp. It seemed wrong for the school to be so forceful about making him choose a life path to follow.

"Say, Kairi," Sora said quietly as he gathered his thoughts together, "what are you planning on doing after graduating?"

Her eyes glinted and her face morphed into a devious smirk. Slightly taken aback by what that could mean, he watched as Kairi got to her feet, brushed the dust off her skirt and pointed to the sky in a dramatic, albeit unnecessary, pose. Feeling almost embarrassed to be seen with her, he glanced around to make sure none of the other students were looking at them.

"My future plans, you ask?" she announced like some sort of old cartoon villain. "There is only one place for a genius like me, and that is at an academic institution that will allow me to bring all of my plans to fruition!" Swiftly moving her pointing arm from the sky to Sora, she smirked and continued to embarrass him. "I, Kairi Lea, will go to the one school for geniuses! Radiant Garden University, or RGU for short, which stands for Real Geniuses Unite!"

"I-I'm pretty sure it stands for Radiant Garden University…" he mumbled, hiding his face so that no one would know he was hanging out with such a crazy girl. "And do you honestly expect me to believe that? That school gets applicants from everywhere; their acceptance rate is supposedly less than twenty percent! Considering only the smartest of smart people get accepted and the fact that you like cutting class, I really doubt you'll be there next year…"

"Heehee, a girl can dream," she giggled, flopping back down next to him as if she hadn't just made a complete fool of herself. "I dunno, I'll just do whatever I feel like. I wrote that down on my future plans handout and they haven't bothered me about it."

"Really, you wrote down that _exact_ speech?" Sora teased, nudging her lightly in the side.

She grinned and nudged him back. "Hey, when they stop calling you down to the counselor's office, then you can talk. Until then, I'm still better than you."

Before he could make a retort, a loud beeping sound stole Sora's attention. Reaching into his pocket, he shut off the alarm he'd set on his phone and tucked it away. Stretching out his arms and slowly pulling himself up, he looked down at Kairi and gave her a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, I forgot I had to work today," he apologized, resting his hands behind his head. "I wish I could hang out longer, but I've gotta get going if I'm gonna make it in time."

Smiling, Kairi shook her head understandingly and held her hands up for him to help her stand. "That's all right. You got my number and I got your food, so that's all we really needed to get done. I don't think lunch is going to last much longer anyway, so I should go wash the dust and stuff off of my hands."

Nodding, Sora pulled her up and picked up his bag before making his way to the ladder. Once they were inside and down the first flight of stairs, he felt somewhat unsure of how to say goodbye to her. Should he just wave and say "See ya" or were they closer than that? After all, they _had kissed_ already, so that might seem too…distant. Then again, he wasn't really sure what their relationship was now.

"Um…" Kairi said before he had a chance to make up his mind. "I guess I'll call you later or something. If I feel like it, I mean."

"Y-Yeah," he said in a slightly bashful manner, rubbing the back of his head. "I wouldn't want you calling me if you didn't feel like it."

Smooth…

Kairi bit her lip as she tried to suppress her laughter at how bad that was, but her expression was almost worse than if she had just let it out. "Ehehe, it's a good thing you're cute, Sora, because you're kind of a dork. But, yeah, _if I feel like it_. Heehee, bye!"

Waving to him as she headed off toward the girls' washroom, Kairi disappeared into the crowd, leaving Sora alone and embarrassed in the middle of the hallways. Taking a few seconds to recover, the brunet shook his head and continued making his way down the stairs. Despite feeling ridiculous about what he said, he couldn't help smiling after what was essentially a successful "date" with Kairi. Maybe she had made fun of him an awful lot, but she had also called him cute, and he could live with the teasing if he got a genuine compliment from her.

キングダムハーツキングダムハーツキングダムハーツ

"Well, you seem awfully chipper today," someone said as Sora happily strode into the temp agency. "Something good happen, kid?"

"You could say that," Sora said as he flopped down on the couch inside the rather small office. "You said I was getting assigned somewhere new today, right?"

"Did I say that? I can't remember if you even had to work today."

"…Are you serious, Axel? What kind of manager are you?"

The tall redhead chuckled and straightened his tie as if to challenge Sora's words, though he playfully flipped off the brunet to reinforce his lack of seriousness.

"I'm kidding, Sora," Axel said, strolling over to the coffee machine by his desk and inserting a few coins. "Can't you lighten up a little; I thought you were in a good mood. Besides, I've already told you a million times that I'm not really a manager, since I just assign you to places that need some extra help."

"You sign my paychecks, and that's all that matters," Sora retorted deviously.

"Little punk," Axel laughed and took a sip of his coffee. "Anyway, you don't have to head over until about two, so just chill out here for a while. The place is that martial arts dojo over by the sandlot. I think it was called…uh…" Quickly rifling through some unorganized papers, Axel pulled one out and looked at the top, "Master Eraqus Hikari-style Mixed Martial Arts. Got it memorized?"

"You always ask that and I always do," Sora responded as he took the paper from Axel. "Basic office work, I'm guessing?"

"That's what he said," Axel said with a shrug, leaning back lazily in his chair. "Their usual guy is away for a month, maybe a bit longer, so I'll try to have you and Rai alternate shifts until you're done with school."

"Sounds good, and you said I could start full time once summer starts, right?"

"Should be fine," he said, grabbing another piece of paper, "Rai's quitting anyway, so I won't need to alternate you guys anymore."

Nodding, Sora glanced up at the clock to see that it was only about 12:50. Having a lot of time to kill happened pretty often with this job, considering there was never any certainty of when businesses would need them to come in. Heading into the bathroom, he took his time changing out of his uniform and into a suit more appropriate for doing office work. Despite having worked here for the past six months or so, Sora still hadn't quite gotten used to the idea of wearing a suit to work. Most people his age worked at places where they could just wear whatever they felt like, so he almost felt like he was more professional, though he knew that wasn't the case.

After successfully killing forty minutes, Sora headed out of the building to find the dojo. Making it to the sandlot with ten minutes to spare, he calmly walked over to his destination and entered.

"Welcome, welcome," an older-looking man with long, tied-back, black hair greeted. "Ah, you must be from the temp agency."

"Sora Gainsborough, nice to meet you," Sora responded as professionally as he could, holding out his hand to shake the man's.

"And you as well. I am Eraqus, the owner of this establishment. I'll introduce you to the staff before showing you what you'll be doing, as you may need to know whom some of them are to do some of the filing."

Sora only half-listened as Eraqus went on about the random facts about his business. Most of the time, he'd found that they didn't tell him anything necessary during the introductions, and the only thing he would need to know was what he would be doing and occasionally, as was the case this time, meeting the staff so that he could do his job properly.

As they rounded a corner at the end of the hallway, they entered a large, square room with different sections designated by the equipment and type of flooring. Near the back, Sora could see the office where he would be working, as it had a window revealing a small, lit room with a computer, a desk, and a few filing cabinets and bookshelves.

Turning as three very different-looking people walked up in their martial arts gi, Eraqus allowed each of them to introduce themselves.

"Terra, senior apprentice of Master Eraqus," the tall, burly man with brown hair started. "I teach the men's category for all ages and levels."

"I'm Aqua," the pretty, blue-haired woman said kindly. "Same as Terra except for women."

"Ventus, or Ven for short," said the last of the three, whom Sora had to do a double take of to realize that it was not his own brother. "I'm just a junior apprentice, so I can teach up to intermediate boys and girls."

"And of course, you've already met me," Eraqus cleared his throat. "I can cover all levels for males and females. That should be enough information for basic filing. Any questions?"

"Terra: senior, teaches men; Aqua: senior, teaches women; Ven: junior, teaches kids; Eraqus: master, teaches everyone. I think I've got it."

"Good, if you are unsure of anything, simply come get one of us when we aren't busy and we should be able to answer any questions. All the paperwork is laid out in the office and you may use anything in there to get your work done."

Nodding in understanding, Sora turned toward the office and headed over. He was thankful that there weren't many staff members, or the workload would have gotten much more complicated. He was unfortunate enough to work in a regular office at his first location and had to remember about twenty different employees and what each of their jobs were. To be assigned to a place with only four employees was like a breath of fresh air.

Seating himself at the desk inside, he pulled the first few papers off of the stack in front of him and began sorting them by teacher, as most appeared to be student files regarding their insurance and whatnot. Sora sighed, knowing that all the lower papers would likely be the grueling ones that he would have to fill out as opposed to simply sorting into piles.

It was strange to think that this had become such a regular thing for him over these past few months. He was thankful that his early birthday allowed him to move out and start working right near the start of the New Year, but he never would have imagined himself working a plain old desk job. True, he had never really had much of a dream job, aside from when he was a child and wanted to be an astronaut or firefighter like every other kid, but he had never really pegged himself to be an office worker. He never complained, though, as it was a well-paying job and the number crunching was usually kept to a minimum.

After a few hours, he'd managed to make it about two thirds of the way down the stack. As he'd predicted, the forms had gotten more difficult as he progressed lower, and his wrist was beginning to tire from all the writing. Glancing at the wall clock, his stomach growled when he saw that it was a little past five. Since they hadn't specified how long he needed to stay, it was assumed that he could leave once all the papers had been dealt with. As much as he wanted that to spur him to work faster, Sora knew that he couldn't do a sloppy job or he would risk getting fired.

He paused as a sudden realization hit him, or rather, a regular realization that he'd experienced before.

This was his life now, and it was boring. Boring. As. Hell.

Sora didn't mind so much that he had a boring life, as long as he was able to live off of whatever boring job he had. The issue was that he would never be able to talk about himself if someone asked. This particular workplace didn't have other office workers, so he didn't have to worry about any of the staff trying to make conversation with him, but this was actually less common than most situations.

For now, he still had the luxury of saying he was in high school and trying to pay the rent for him and his brother, but he could really only use that story for a few more weeks. After that, what did he have going for him? He worked as a temp, lived with his chef-in-training younger brother, and took walks on his spare time. Out of those things, people would want to know more about Roxas than they would about him.

Thinking back to what Roxas had said to him the other day, Sora understood what he meant when he said that it was easier to talk to people around their age. Most of the time, Sora was stuck in an office with people who tended to be twenty-five and up. Speaking with people his age was easy, as he could be less formal around them and didn't really worry about boring them. A prime example was Kairi, as she hadn't seemed particularly bored by him today or yesterday.

Kairi… Would he have the luxury of meeting someone like her in the future? Someone he could be himself around and not worry about boring to tears? Kairi seemed to enjoy herself around him, but she probably had a bunch of guy friends that she could have more fun with; after all, she did say that most of her friends went to the public high school, so maybe he was just the go-to person at their school. Besides, Sora knew that he didn't see her in that way. She was just someone that he wanted to get to know after everything that happened.

Sighing, half in relief and half over his depressing thoughts, Sora stretched his arms above his head after filling in the date on the last form. It was almost 6:30 now, and he was starving. Straightening the stacks of paper, he put them into their respective filing drawers and stood from his seat, taking a moment to stretch his legs. Exiting the office, the sound of classes in the large room surprised him, as he hadn't realized just how effective the soundproof walls and window must have worked.

"Ah, have you finished?" Eraqus asked as Sora emerged into the entrance area.

"Yeah, it wasn't too difficult," he responded with a shrug. "Everything is organized by teacher, date, and anything else the document might have specified. If there are any problems, just contact my manager and he'll let me know."

"Very well," Eraqus answered with a nod of his head. "Good work today."

Nodding slightly, Sora turned and left the building, the warm, evening air gently caressing his face as he stepped outside.

The buildings glowed a brilliant orange as the light of the sunset descended upon the city. Sora swiftly made his way home, doing his best to avoid the avid tourists trying to take romantic snapshots of the city's namesake. Rounding a corner, he promptly walked right into someone and fell back, fortunately landing on the bag with his clothes in it.

"Ehe, this happens too often with us," a familiar girl's voice chuckled while sounding pained at the same time.

"Huh, Kairi?" Sora asked when he saw that it was her. "What are you doing on this side of town? Don't you live way on the other side?"

"Yeah, but my brother usually comes home around this time of day, so I try to avoid being there when he gets home," she said in her usual cheerful manner as she stood up. "Whoa, nice threads, Sora, or should I call you Mr. Gainsborough since you're looking all profesh?"

"Sora's fine," he said amusedly and also stood up. "These are just my work clothes. But back to you, it sounds like you really don't like your brother. Do you guys fight that much?"

"Mm, it's not so much that we fight as it is we aren't compatible," she said as they began walking.

"I would hope not; I mean, you're brother and sister," Sora joked, earning a playful shove from the redhead.

"Don't be gross, Sora!" she laughed. "No, I mean we just kind of rub each other the wrong way."

"I didn't need to know that."

"Ugh, stop it, you sicko!"

Both laughing as they headed in the same direction, Sora felt as though he were lighter. After stressing about work and his boring life and if he would ever be able to meet a girl that wouldn't mind all that, Kairi seemed to take the negative feelings away from him. He still didn't see her as someone he wanted to get involved with in a romantic way, but the idea itself was perhaps something that would be nice later in life. Then again, he had no idea where life might take her in, say, five years; he would probably still be here working some plain job, if not the same one.

Stopping in front of his apartment building, Sora turned to her and realized that he was in another awkward goodbye situation.

"Um…I know it's a little late to say this," he started shakily, scratching the back of his head, "but weren't you walking the other way when we ran into each other?"

"Oh, yeah, but I wasn't headed anywhere in particular," she stated lightheartedly. "I figured I might as well walk you home before heading back myself."

"Heh, isn't it the guy's job to walk the girl home?" he laughed dryly.

"It is," she said before a mischievous smirk appeared on her face, "so I guess we know who wears the pants in our relationship."

"U-Usually that's something you say about couples," Sora responded as he rubbed at his nose to ineffectively hide his blush. "A-Anyway, we hardly even have a relationship established to begin with, so there's no pants-wearer between us."

Kairi's grin spread even wider, and Sora realized that he probably said something that he shouldn't have.

"You have such a dirty mind, Sora," she giggled, which only made his blush deepen. "I think it's a little too early for us to be taking off our pants around each other. Calm your hormones a bit. I'm gonna let you go inside now because your stomach seems to be urging you."

If any more blood rushed to Sora's head, he would probably faint. How was this girl able to so easily embarrass him without feeling the slightest bit of remorse? Everything she did was so spontaneous and quirky, yet she always seemed to be in control of the situation! The only time he could remember her feeling uncomfortable was when he said she should sleep in his bed and maybe a little bit when she asked if she could kiss him.

"U-Um, yeah, I-I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," he stuttered and began to turn around. As he turned and took about five steps toward the building, Kairi called out to him.

"Sora, wait!"

Hoping that she wouldn't embarrass him any further, he hesitantly turned around and…

…felt her lips firmly pressed against his.

Now feeling like he might pass out, Sora stumbled back a few steps when she pulled away. Only registering the sound of her laughter as she ran out of sight, he couldn't even begin to question what just occurred and instead opted to simply head inside. By the time he was actually able to process what just happened, his phone buzzed inside his pocket, so he took it out to see what the message was.

_1 new message from: Kairi Lea  
__Since I know you're going to ask, there was no reason, I just felt like it again._

Slumping down on the stairs, Sora felt like he couldn't move. As he stared at the screen that displayed the text message, he couldn't decide if he should laugh, scream, or just accept it and move on. One thing was for certain, though, and he sighed as he tried to pull himself up by the railing.

"This girl is going to be the death of me…"

* * *

I'm hoping the middle section about Sora's boring life didn't…well, bore anyone too much. I figured I would have to give Sora something to think about while he was working, and that seemed to work best, even if it was boring…because that's sort of the idea… If nothing else, Kairi is fun to write, and I've always enjoyed writing Axel, even if his part in this story isn't that big.

As you should be able to tell, kissing is usually going to be pretty laid-back in this story. That's not to say that I don't plan on having some heavy kisses, but I think it sort of adds to the novelty of the important ones, as opposed to Kairi messing with Sora for kicks. What I'm going for is something that goes against the norm, that is, not a story where the protagonists are all reluctant to do stuff before they're together. Actually, I'm pretty sure all of my multi-chaps do something like that, but this one is branching even further than any of my other ones.

Thanks to **MasterKaze** for reviewing!

Thanks for reading and please review! Getting only one is, to be frank, a little disappointing, and I greatly appreciate any thoughts!

–_GengaJupite_


	4. Years Gone By: Part I

Well, I knew I was going to get behind from exams, but now that I'm done I'm hoping to get a few out before I start working. I still feel bad, though, so: much apology, many sorry, wow. On a different note, I'm contemplating whether or not to change the story summary, possibly to a line (or lines) from the story. What do you guys think; is it worth changing or is it fine the way it is. It might just be me, but I'm finding it somewhat uninspiring and awkwardly worded (thanks, 144 character limit…).

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one

* * *

_Years Gone By: Part I_

The days seemed to go by quickly now that Sora had found a reason to go to school – assuming he didn't have work, of course. Other than the odd time when they didn't run into each other, Sora had been hanging out with Kairi almost every day. For a while, he was afraid that she might start getting irritated with his clinginess, but she gave no signs that she disliked his presence. If anything, she seemed to enjoy having him around more than he did of her.

"So, when are you gonna bone this chick?" Riku asked, frustrated that the wind on the roof was preventing him from lighting his cigarette.

"First of all, I've only been talking to her for a little over a week," Sora responded. "Second, and I know I've said this before, I'm not looking for a relationship with her."

"Pfft, who said anything about a relationship?" the silver-haired teen chuckled, finally managing to get a flame from his lighter. "This is the perfect time to do something, anyway: You haven't known each other long enough to be emotionally attached so nothing will happen after you get the deed done."

"I think that only applies to you, Riku," Roxas laughed from the other side of Sora. "Besides, maybe Kairi is actually butt-ugly or imaginary and Sora's just too embarrassed to tell us."

"Get real," Sora groaned, swatting at Roxas' head, only to miss by an inch. "She's totally real; you even saw her way back the first time I met her."

"Only her back; I wasn't going to spook her as she was sneaking out, so I just watched her leave."

"Well, that proves she's real!"

"_Real_ly ugly?" Riku jeered.

"Ugh, honestly, go to hell, both of you."

Roxas and Riku both laughed, high-fiving each other while Sora fumed against the fence. It was just like them to act like jerks when it came to girls. Well, not so much Roxas, but definitely Riku. Sora knew he should have expected this, but somehow he always held out the false hope that they would act like respectable human beings.

The rooftop door squeaked open, but Sora didn't bother turning his head to see who it was. With these two cutting class with him, it was more likely to be an angry counselor than anyone else.

"Whoa, babe alert," Riku muttered to Sora, lightly elbowing him in the side. "Check her out; I bet she'd make you forget all about your ugly girlfriend."

Without even thinking about arguing with him, Sora sighed and reluctantly glanced over to the entryway. Of course, when he noticed who had stepped through the doorway, it took all his willpower to hold back a smug grin from forming on his face.

"You should get her to come over here," Sora feigned disinterest. "I bet even you couldn't get a hot girl like her to talk to you."

"Tch," Riku scoffed, standing straight up and getting ready to walk over to her. "Roxas, I hope you're ready to watch you brother get shown up."

"No need," the blond said, "she's already walking this way."

Surprised by his statement, both Sora and Riku looked over to see that the girl was, indeed, walking their way. Riku gave Sora a smug look and quickly tossed his cigarette butt on the ground, crushing it beneath his foot. Sora was still trying his best to contain his own smugness from showing through.

"Hey, hey, how's it going?" Riku said coolly as she came within speaking distance.

Casting Riku a confused look, the redhead brushed off his greeting and smiled right at Sora. "Hey, I thought you might be up here!"

"Heh, that's mean, I go to class sometimes," Sora chuckled, ignoring the stupefied looks from his two companions. "You could've texted me if you wanted to know what I was doing."

"I guess, but that wouldn't have been as fun as searching," she said before adding, "except it still wasn't that fun, since you were in the first place I checked…"

Before Sora had the chance to say anything else, Riku cut him off. "W-Whoa, hey, Sora, buddy, you gonna introduce us to your lady friend?"

Sora gave Riku and Roxas an unimpressed look. While he wanted to blow their minds by explaining that this was Kairi, the girl they had basically been calling ugly, their complete lack of tact or restraint bothered him. They were practically drooling over her while she stood right there, hearing everything they were saying.

Rolling his eyes and giving Kairi a smile that read 'can't be helped', Sora turned his companions toward Kairi and began the introductions.

"Guys, this is Kairi, the girl I've been hanging out with for the past while, and the one you accused of being ug–"

"No way, this can't be her!" Riku growled at Sora. "No girl this hot would want to hang out with a lame-ass like you!"

"…Kairi," Sora continued, "this is Roxas, my brother. This other guy is just some pervert that you don't need to remember."

"Got it," she replied, smiling at Roxas.

"Oh, come on, man, you know I was joking," Riku laughed, sliding right up against Kairi's side. "Anyway, I'm Riku, and if you're looking for a good time, I can show it to you. You're not gonna get anywhere hanging around with Sora, so now's your chance to see how a real man works his magic."

"Wow, you're pretty forward, aren't you?" Kairi giggled, the slightest hint of malice lacing her voice. "It's a shame that I'm not into jerks. Besides…"

There was a pause as she sent a suggestive look Sora's way, causing him to blush. Both of the other guys also looked at him, wondering what that look could have meant, though each of their reactions was rather different from the other's. Sora had somewhat of an idea what she was thinking of, and he prayed that she wouldn't say anything about it.

"…Sora and I have already kissed."

She said it.

Fortunately for the brunet, neither Riku nor Roxas reacted much to this news. Instead of getting into a frenzy over how he'd managed to get a kiss from her, they both seemed to blow it off like it was nothing.

"Big deal, we already knew about that," Roxas said with a shrug.

"Besides, that was, like, way back in the winter," Riku added, continuing to push himself up against Kairi's side.

"Actually–"

Sora braced himself for what would be an inevitable attack from his friends.

"–we've done it a couple times this week. Yesterday was the latest one."

Silence. Sora watched as both Roxas and Riku stood there frozen like statues. Kairi, in her bubbly obliviousness, gave a teasing smile to Sora. It was hard to tell whether she had planned to put him in a tough situation or if she had simply thought that he would have told them by now. Any regular guy would brag about getting to first base with a girl as attractive as Kairi, but given the people he was dealing with, Sora hadn't really planned on telling them, at least not until much later.

As both statues slowly cranked their necks from Kairi to Sora, he could practically feel the tension in the air begin to suffocate him. It was tough to decide if Roxas' look of admiration and disbelief was as bad as Riku's expression of jealousy and 'I'm gonna kill you'. Honestly, Sora still couldn't believe that Xion actively wanted to be in a relationship with him.

"Ehehe…" he chortled uncomfortably, trying to fill the void of silence. "Well, um, it's fairer to say that she kissed me… I was caught by surprise every time."

Why he had chosen to say that, Sora would never know, but the moment the words passed his lips, he instantly regretted it, as the expressions on their faces only worsened. Dealing with Roxas bugging him about it at home would be easy; trying to get Riku off his case for something like this…well, the word 'difficult' just didn't seem to cut it.

"I don't really know what's going on," Kairi said, feigning innocence that was too cute for Sora to get angry at her for, "but this is getting…weird. If you guys don't mind, I'm gonna steal him away from you."

Without giving any of them a chance to react, Kairi quickly latched onto Sora's wrist and began pulling him away, leaving the other two to watch as they simply walked off. Rather than leading him to their usual spot above the roof's entrance, Kairi opened the door and brought Sora back inside. Once there, she pulled him off into the alcove next to the doorway.

"I guess I should have thought that through a little better," Kairi giggled, letting go of Sora's wrist. "Staying outside with them there would have been awkward, but I forgot that it's the middle of fifth period and we can't get spotted skipping."

Shaking his head and letting out a breathy chuckle, Sora leaned against the wall. "Eh, don't worry about it; this is better than letting those two interrogate me. Really, though, you could have left out the fact that you've been kissing me."

"Aww, you don't like it?"

"It's embarrassing…"

Kairi laughed as Sora began to blush. Since it had happened a few times now, he no longer bothered trying to make her stop, but the sporadic smooches weren't getting any easier to deal with. In all fairness, he didn't dislike them – not at all – but the spontaneity of it all was more than someone like him could deal with. What made her want to kiss a plain guy like him, anyway? Or was it the fact that he was so plain and unsuspecting that made her want to mess with him all the time? He had to admit, another guy with more personality might not be as fun for her to tease.

"A-Anyway," Sora continued, trying to steer the subject in another direction, "what should we do now that we're here?"

"We could kiss," she said in a mischievous yet nonchalant tone.

"Or we could…"

"Kiss."

"Besides that, if you don't mind."

She giggled again, but didn't push it any further. Humming to herself, she sat down against the wall. "Sometimes I take naps when I'm skipping, but that doesn't really seem like something you do with two people. What do you usually do?"

Sora shrugged and slid his back down the wall so that he was sitting beside her. "Most of the time I'm with one of those guys, but since we can't go back out there with them, I'm not sure what there is to do…other than going back to class…"

Both teens looked at each other and made some kind of disgusted expression at Sora's suggestion. With only this last week of classes before exams, neither one of them saw the use in going to a bunch of review lessons that they wouldn't pay attention to anyway. Of course, cutting the entire week would probably get them in loads of trouble, so they still had to show up, if only for attendance.

"Hey, I just thought about something," said Kairi. "Who's your prom date?"

Taken aback by the sudden question, Sora was unable to stop his cheeks from burning up. "O-Oh, well…you know, just some girl… I doubt you know her…"

"Heehee, you don't have a date."

"I totally do!"

Lightly punching him on the shoulder, Kairi laughed. "No need to get so embarrassed, Sora. Lots of people go solo, but I'm betting you got turned down, judging from your reaction."

"It's not like that," Sora grumbled, slightly turning his face away from her. "I just didn't bother asking anyone. I don't exactly have a ton of female friends, anyway. Honestly, I haven't decided if I'm even going to it."

Out of nowhere, he suddenly felt a tight squeezing on his face, followed by his head being forcefully turned towards Kairi. The redhead had one hand held surprisingly tightly around his cheeks while she gave him what he could only describe as the most serious and stern expression she'd ever given him. Apparently, prom was a big deal for her.

"You can't be such a lame-ass, Sora!" she exclaimed in a tone reminiscent of Riku. "You're going to skip out on one of the biggest events of our high school lives just because you don't have a date?"

Tugging her hand off his face, Sora rubbed his cheeks and shrugged. "It's not just that; tickets are expensive. If I'm only going to have an okay time, then is there any point in shelling out a decent chunk of my paycheck?"

Bopping him on the head, Kairi groaned at his reasoning. "That's no excuse, Sora. I already know that you don't spend your money on anything fun, so you should have a whole bunch saved up. How about I promise a dance with you if you show up? Not a bad deal, hey? You get to see me all dressed up and fancy _and_ you get to dance with me!"

"Won't your date be upset?" Sora chuckled. "And, by the way, you never told me who _your _date was!"

Kairi waved off Sora's demanding tone and continued ranting on. "If he gets mad because I'm not clinging to him for the entire night, then that's his problem. Unless you're dating someone, you can't expect to hog them at a dance. Anyway, he goes to a different school, so I doubt you'd know him."

"You sure you're not just pretending to have a date?"

"Pfft, I wouldn't sink to that level if I didn't have a date," she teased. "Besides, he's more like a friend of a friend. I don't really feel like explaining the whole situation, but it's sort of as a favour to her that I agreed to let him be my date. Oh, that reminds me! She's coming too, so I could always set you up with her!"

Sora cocked his head back and raised an eyebrow before a smirk slowly formed across his lips. "Well, if she's anything like you, I think I'll pass."

"Rude," the redhead laughed and stuck her tongue out at him. "She's actually, like, the complete opposite of me, so you're in luck. You probably won't hit it off with her like you did with me, though."

"Uh, yeah, that only happened because the two times that I've met you, you were unconscious for some reason or other and then you ended up forcing me into some kind of…interesting situation."

"You know, I still don't believe that whole 'sniffing your face' thing."

As they laughed about their past meetings and the plans for prom, the last bell of the day rang, which was quickly followed by Roxas and Riku re-entering the building and walking past them without noticing they were there. Once the boys were out of sight, Kairi and Sora got up and started making their way down the stairs. With all the talk of prom and the realization that it was right around the corner, Sora now felt like he was on some kind of time limit, even though he still hadn't decided whether or not he was going.

Once they had reached the first floor and exited the building, Kairi suddenly jogged ahead a few steps and turned around, pointing a finger right at him. Hoping that nobody else would pay too much attention to the inevitable scene she was about to cause, Sora gulped and waited for her to do her thing.

"Sora!" she said loudly, which, to his embarrassment, caught the attention of quite a few people. "You had better buy a prom ticket by tomorrow, okay? I swear, if, after everything we've talked about, you decide not to go, then I'm going to punch you in the head and pull your hair and…and…and I'll bite you on the ear!"

Sora could only try to hide his face as the random passersby commented on what she'd just announced.

"Isn't that a bit abusive?"

"Shit, he's trying to stand her up."

"Whoa, what a babe!"

"Other than getting punched in the head, I'd let her do those things to me all night long."

Glancing up to see her grinning, Sora could only wonder how she remained so oblivious to her surroundings. Either that or she had learned to transcend the feeling of shame, which consequently meant doubling his own. As she turned around and waved to him while running off, the brunet could only stand there and wait until she was out of sight and the comments had been drowned out. Really, what planet was that girl from?!

Taking the first few steps on his trek home, Sora's lips curled up slightly, despite his embarrassment. Even as the source of all his headaches from her ridiculous antics, he wouldn't change her at all. Kairi was Kairi, and no matter what sort of hell she put him through, he was almost certain that he would come out still liking her (the keyword being 'almost').

Passing by a men's clothing store, he stopped to glance at some of the suits in the window. If he didn't want to get physically abused by Kairi, then he would have to rent a tux and buy his ticket. Just thinking about the amount of munny he would need for both of those made him cringe, but the idea of getting his ear bitten in a non-sensual way didn't sound so appealing. Sighing and continuing his walk home, Sora silently said goodbye to a large portion of his paycheck.

キングダムハーツキングダムハーツキングダムハーツ

The last two weeks of school flew by, and before Sora knew it, it was the morning before prom. His finals were over, and his wallet had reluctantly lost some weight, though he couldn't deny that Kairi was right about still having a significant amount saved up in his bank account. With the actual celebrations not taking place until nighttime, he and Riku were busy getting ready at his apartment.

"Man, I am glad those finals are over!" Riku sighed and adjusted his tie in the mirror. "Seriously, math yesterday was brutal. What'd you get for the last question?"

Trying to think back on what the question was, Sora scratched his head while trying to figure out how to fold his pocket square. "Uh…I think it was 68√5 + 14_x_. Why, what'd you get?"

"…3…"

"I don't even want to know how you got to that answer…"

Chuckling, Riku finished tightening his tie and began buttoning up his vest. "Eh, who gives a crap, anyway? Exams are done and now we get to let loose tonight!"

Despite agreeing to Kairi's convincing, Sora still wasn't sure that he wanted to go tonight. It would be a waste of his munny not to at this point, but this, along with commencement in a few days, were supposed to be like a final sendoff into the real world. While that would seem like a big stepping-stone and accomplishment for most people, Sora felt like he had already graduated his life as a dependent kid. After all, he was paying rent on his own apartment, working most of the time, and basically managing the way that he probably would for the rest of his life. If he had wanted a graduation ceremony, it would have been back when he first moved out.

"You still never told me about this chick you're supposed to be going with," Riku said and took a seat across from Sora.

"I would have if I knew who she was," Sora chuckled dryly, tucking the square into his jacket pocket after finally managing to get it right. "She's supposed to be one of Kairi's friends. I think her name was Fuu?"

"Asian girl, nice."

"You realize that our names are Asian too, right…?"

Riku ignored Sora's comment and continued. "Hopefully she's hot, but I'm kind of curious why you didn't ask Kairi. I mean, she's a total babe, and I know you keep saying you don't want a relationship with her, but asking her to prom wouldn't have meant much."

Sora responded nonchalantly as he put on his jacket and checked himself in the mirror. "Well, you already knew I wasn't even planning on going until recently. The only reason I am is because she forced me to, and by that point she already had a date."

Shrugging, Riku rummaged through his bag for a moment before pulling out a small black box. Turning to see what it was, Sora rolled his eyes as Riku pulled out a couple of Cuban cigars. The silver-haired teen offered one to Sora, who simply shook his head in response.

"Are you even trying to quit?" Sora asked as Riku put the extra one back. "Seems like you're smoking more than ever nowadays."

"Hey, now, this is different," Riku responded, twirling the fat, plastic-wrapped cigar around his fingers. "Cigars are celebratory, Sora. Actually, I was planning on slowing down after tonight. Something like three a day and after getting laid only."

"If you tell that to Xion, then you won't be getting any action for a long time."

"Who said I'd only be getting some from her?"

"I don't get how you can talk like that so easily."

"Said the virgin."

Sora shook his head and sat back at the table. It was true that Riku had slept around a bit, but he had also never cheated on a girl he was with. From Sora's point of view, it would make more sense to flaunt around the latter than the former, or at least for him not to make it seem like he would cheat. _Technically,_ Riku still wasn't dating Xion, but it would be news to Sora if his best friend had actually gone through with having sex with a different girl.

"Moving on," Sora sighed, "what time do you have to go to Xion's? I doubt she would approve of you smelling like smoke, especially if the scent sticks to your tux."

"I should probably go in a few minutes," Riku said as he checked his watch. "You can relax, though; since you're not gonna smoke one with me, I'm gonna wait until we meet up with other people that are willing to do it. As long as we smoke outside, it won't stick as easily."

"Somehow I don't think that'll make her feel any better…"

As usual, Riku simply shrugged it off, leaving Sora wondering once again why Xion actively _chose_ to be with him. If he were a girl, Sora wasn't sure that he would like someone like Riku for more than a week at most. Luckily, that wasn't a problem he had to deal with, as he wasn't trying to hook up with a promiscuous girl, let alone with anyone at all right now.

The two boys continued killing time by talking and fixing up their tuxedos until Riku had to leave. With nothing to do, Sora slumped down onto the couch and flipped on the small TV in the corner of the room. Personally, he would have liked to stay in his regular clothes until he had to leave, but with Riku coming over to get ready in the morning and Roxas coming back home with their aunt and uncle later, he knew he would have to get ready. Of course, they hadn't told him when they were coming over, so he couldn't wait until the last minute to get dressed up.

As he mindlessly watched the random police drama on the screen, Sora wondered what Kairi might be doing right now. Most likely, she had probably been up early this morning and was still getting ready right now. She had never said if her parents came home to take pictures, but he could only assume that at least one of them had. After all, even though Sora only had his brother, aunt, and uncle, all three of them had taken off work and were coming over to do just that.

It was probably an hour, maybe two, before the sound of the lock turning caught Sora's attention. Turning off the TV, he stood up right as Roxas stepped through the doorway with Cloud and Tifa right behind him. With the three of them dressed semi formally, it seemed funny that they were all gathering in this small apartment instead of at Cloud and Tifa's house.

"Hey, looking sharp, bro," Roxas chuckled.

"Not bad, though you could've done something about that hair," Cloud jeered and set down a large envelope on the table.

"You two are too sarcastic," Tifa scolded lightly before turning to Sora and smiling. "You look very handsome, Sora."

"Heh, uh, thanks," Sora said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. "Other than the tie, I wasn't sure how most of this other stuff was supposed to go on."

"Mm, it doesn't look like you got any of it wrong," Tifa mused, circling around him to make sure everything was right. "If it makes you feel better, you clean up a lot nicer than Cloud does."

"Usually I'd argue, but today is about you so I'll let it go," Cloud chuckled. Walking over to pat his nephew on the shoulder, he softened his tone and expression. "Seriously, though, you guys grew up so quick. I know I said it when you moved out, but I can't believe that ten years have already gone by since we took you in."

"Me neither," Sora agreed, thinking back on the day that he and Roxas first started living with their aunt and uncle. Back then, he was just a scared little kid without a place he could call home, and now he was an independent man in the working world.

"Before we get too sentimental," Roxas butted in, "we should probably get these pictures taken."

"Right, right," Tifa said, pulling out a digital camera from her purse. "Roxas, go stand next to Sora; we'll start with you two."

For the next few hours, Sora strained his cheeks to pose for pictures with his family. He wasn't even sure how they managed to kill so much time; after all, there were only so many combinations four people could take pictures in. Still, he wasn't unhappy with the time they spent, as it was rare that the four of them got together for something other than a meal or holiday.

"You're flying solo tonight?" Cloud asked once they had stopped taking pictures.

"No, but it's sort of like a blind date," Sora explained, feeling a bit embarrassed by the situation. "One of my friends set me up with her friend."

"I still think you should've taken Kairi," Roxas sniffed. "I know you said she already had a date, but that's because you waited too long."

"She probably already had a date by the time I met her at school," Sora said with a shrug.

"Well, I'm still glad you decided to go," Tifa said, taking a sip of tea. "Actually, I was a bit worried when you first told us you weren't planning to. I thought you were going through some kind of depression or something."

"That's why you're a personal trainer and not a psychologist," Sora chuckled. Before anyone could say anything else, his phone started buzzing in his pocket. Checking what the message said, he put the phone back in his pocket and slid his chair out a bit. "Well, Riku says he's waiting out front, so I should probably get going now."

"Have fun, hon," Tifa said, waving as he made his way to the door.

"Knock 'em dead, kid," Cloud added. "Also, this envelope is for you when you get back. Call it a grad gift."

Nodding to them and stepping through the door, Sora quickly made his way to the elevator and headed to the ground floor. Perhaps it was because he had been getting ready all day, or maybe it was because prom was now only a short time away, but Sora couldn't deny that he was actually beginning to get a bit excited for the event. If he didn't think about all the munny he'd spent on it, there were quite a few more pros than cons, one of the best ones being that he would get to see Kairi get all primped up.

"Yo," Riku greeted as Sora got into his car.

"Hey, looking good, Sora," Xion giggled.

"Whoa, Xion, you look great," Sora said as he sat beside her, genuinely impressed by how she looked in her long, dark green dress.

"Heehee, thanks."

""Great?" Sora, you mean she looks super hot, right?" Riku laughed, beginning to drive.

"That's exactly what I meant," he laughed along.

It wasn't long before Riku pulled into the parking lot at the event hall where their prom was being held. Taking a few minutes to find a spot in the crowded lot, the three of them clambered out of the car and casually made their way toward the entrance.

Sora checked his phone to see if Kairi had messaged him at all. While he wasn't expecting anything like a picture of her, he did want to know if she was here yet, especially since he didn't know how she looked or where he was supposed to meet her. Unfortunately, his phone came up blank, and she probably wouldn't notice her phone if he tried messaging her now. Sighing as he slid it back into his pocket, he looked up, scanning over the other people who were entering the building up ahead.

"You seem pretty anxious right now," Xion teased him. "Looking for someone?"

"Yeah, he's looking for the total babe that isn't his date," Riku laughed, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from Xion.

"W-Well, she is showing up with my date, though," Sora stammered, though it was true that he was more looking forward to seeing Kairi than his mystery date.

Luckily for him, the search didn't take long, as the sound of someone calling Sora's name instantly caught the attention of all three of them.

"Sora!"

Looking over, Sora's eyes lit up at the sight of Kairi waving over to him. Simply seeing her, he felt his voice catch in his throat, and was unable to call back to her, so he had to settle for waving back. Her pink dress billowed out at her waist, unlike Xion's slim, wavy dress. From here, he was unable to see the necklace around Kairi's neck, but the glint it gave off in the sunset's light told him that it was probably pretty fancy. Her hair was also pinned up in a way that probably took her hours to get right, and overall, he was left in awe at her appearance.

"K-Kairi," he stuttered once they got up to her. "You look… Y-You look…"

"I think the word you're looking for is sexy," Riku said, earning another elbow to the ribs.

"Heehee, geez, you're embarrassing me," Kairi giggled and gave Sora the up-down look. "You look really good, Sora, _sexy_ even."

Unable to figure out how to respond to her teasing, Sora simply dropped his gaze downward and blushed. Even as they laughed at his bashfulness, Sora couldn't seem to keep his composure long enough to look back up. It wasn't until Kairi put her hand under his chin and forced him to look up that he did.

"Come on, now, you don't want to look like an embarrassed little kid for Fuu, do you?" Kairi asked rhetorically, grinning all the while. "Perfect timing, too, here she comes."

Turning to look in the direction Kairi was facing, Sora spotted the two people that Kairi appeared to be waving to. One was a girl with lavender hair who was wearing a flowing, purple dress. He had to assume that was Fuu, as the other person was a guy, presumably Kairi's date. As they got closer, Sora suddenly began to tense up. Initially, he wasn't able to get a good view of the guy walking with Fuu, but now that he could see him, Sora wondered how _he_ of all people ended up as Kairi's date.

"Well, well, long time no see, Gainsborough," he greeted maliciously, pulling out a box of smokes from his pocket.

As much as Sora wanted to leave right this moment, possibly taking Kairi along with him, he knew he couldn't do that. Working with him before he got fired had been bad enough (especially since that meant he was bad enough to get fired by Axel of all people), but Sora thought that he would never have to run into this guy again. He would have been content to maybe pass him by on the streets every once in a while without so much as a word to one another. Sadly, it couldn't be that simple, and to make matters worse, Riku seemed to be happy to have found a smoking buddy for the night.

Taking a noticeable breath and glaring right back at the taller teen, Sora put all his effort into keeping his voice from sounding too disgusted.

"Tch, yeah, it sure has been…Seifer."

* * *

Again, apologies for the long wait. It actually took me a lot longer to write this chapter than usual, mostly because I didn't know where I was going with it when I started. I wasn't actually going to bring in their prom this early, but I couldn't think of how else to fill in space until then, so it ended up coming in now. In any case, it should work fine, as there aren't any big events that I'm working towards until about two-thirds or three-quarters of the way through the story.

Next chapter is going to continue directly off of this one, and depending on the length or how things turn out, it may lead into their commencement as well, but I'll have to see how everything goes down. Regardless, if commencement isn't at the end of next chapter, it'll be the beginning of the following one.

Thanks to **Drzhar, , Guest, DarkAceKirby, **and **xamsiras **for reviewing!

Thanks for reading and please review!

–_GengaJupite_


	5. Years Gone By: Part II

Ugh, it's official. My already garbage update rate will be taking another blow, as I'll be working full time starting next Monday. Ironic that job hunting could take up almost as much time as actually working would… In any case, please accept my apologies, as I probably won't get as much as I would like to completed this summer.

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one

* * *

_Years Gone By: Part II_

The air was tense as Sora and Seifer stared each other down. If not for the fact that they were dressed in formal attire and surrounded by excited teens getting ready to celebrate their prom, it would seem like an old-fashioned stand off. It took a great deal of Sora's willpower simply to look at the smirking blond in front of him. Seifer had never directly done anything to create such animosity between the two of them, but it had been clear from the first moment they met that neither one of them was going to get along, hence why Sora had been glad when Axel fired him.

"Sooora!" Kairi cooed, waving her hand in front of his face. He blinked a couple of times and looked at her, noticing that she seemed, as usual, oblivious to the situation at hand. "Don't just space out like that, weirdo. Anyway, it seems like you already know this guy, but the girl with him is Fuu, your date for tonight."

Forcing himself to avoid meeting Seifer's gaze, Sora looked over to the girl beside him. Her flowing, purple dress reached just above her ankles, and had an elegant yet simple look. Other than a few bracelets, she wore hardly any jewelry, and Sora could only assume that she had downplayed her clothing so not to outshine any of the girls whose prom this actually was.

"U-Uh, nice to meet you," Sora said a bit shakily, unsure quite how to introduce himself. "I'm Sora."

"Fuu. Likewise," she deadpanned. Slightly taken aback by the manner in which she spoke, Sora could only wonder if she didn't want to be here. Her expression certainly wasn't one of excitement.

"'Kay, now that we all know each other, let's go in!" Kairi said, failing to realize that she had not introduced herself nor been introduced to Seifer. Rather than pointing it out, Sora went inside with the girls, leaving Riku and Seifer outside to smoke.

Entering the common area, Sora was nearly blinded by the continuous flash of cameras. No matter where he looked, there seemed to be some group of people posing while about six or seven cameras flashed in front of them. Navigating through the sea of students was no simple feat, either. Hoping not to get separated from his companions, he made sure to keep a close eye on the redhead leading the way, who, upon noticing how difficult it was to squeeze between people, quickly grabbed hold of Sora's hand and ordered him to form a chain with the girls behind him. Embarrassed but understanding the reasoning, he complied and allowed Kairi to push through.

When the four of them finally emerged in a semi-cleared area, they each took a deep breath. Who knew that trying to navigate through a crowd could be so exhausting? Sora was glad that this would most likely be the last time he would ever have to do something so annoying. It was hard to imagine that any memories would be worth the trouble of nearly suffocating in a horde of overexcited teenagers.

"Heehee, looks like we made it out safely," Kairi giggled once she'd caught her breath. "But, Sora, you're awfully forward, trying to swindle all three of us girls like this."

"I'm just trying to be a gentleman," he said plainly. "Better than having your date pick a cigar over you, right?"

Kairi and Xion both laughed, but Fuu remained stoic. Sora mentally groaned, kicking himself for what he could only assume was a bad first impression. Of course he would hit it off with the two girls who weren't his date but not the one that was…

"A-Anyway," he stammered a bit, "do you think they'll open the doors to the main area soon? This place isn't getting any roomier."

No more than a half second after those words left his mouth, the multiple sets of double doors on the side of the room opened up, allowing the tightly packed crowd of people to flow into the surprisingly spacious hall. Carried by the flow of the crowd, the four of them gazed in awe at the sight they were met with.

The large room in the event hall was decorated like a ballroom made for royalty. A beautiful glass chandelier hung high from the ceiling, illuminating the room in what could only be described as a kaleidoscope effect. Frilly curtains lined the windows, the tables were covered by intricately designed tablecloths, and on the far side of the dance floor were a pair of thrones for the prom king and queen, though Sora couldn't imagine any reason why they would want to be sitting.

Feeling a bit lost in the situation, Sora followed the girls as they quickly went over to claim a table. As he was heading over, the smell of smoke invaded his nostrils and an arm was slung over his shoulders.

"Heh, lucky I found you or you'd be all on your own for tonight," Riku laughed. "You guys could've waited for us, you know."

"Sorry, I just kinda followed them inside," Sora chuckled sheepishly, shaking Riku off of him.

"Geez, Gainsborough, I didn't realize you were the type to let a bunch of chicks order you around," Seifer cackled from the other side of Riku. Not feeling the need to respond to him, Sora left Seifer's statement hanging.

Approaching the table with Riku and Seifer, the three boys took their seats next to their respective dates for the evening. Sandwiched between Fuu and Riku, Sora felt annoyed that he would not be able to look forward without seeing Seifer. At the same time, the brunet simply could not seem to tear his eyes away from the obnoxious blond's attempts to hit on Kairi. He had grown used to Riku's style of at least trying to be smooth when he hit on girls, but this guy's antics could only be described as the attempts of a grade AA+ douchebag.

Realizing he'd been somewhat neglecting his own date, Sora turned to Fuu, who seemed to be staring blankly at nothing in particular. "So, how long have you known Kairi for?" he opted for a simple conversation-starter.

"Childhood."

"Cool, I guess you're kind of like best friends."

"Not really."

"Huh, well, you probably met in some kind of funny way, right?"

"School."

"…Um…you're not angry, are you?"

"No."

Yeesh, Kairi wasn't kidding when she had said Fuu was her total opposite. Could she even say more than two words per sentence? Not only was her speech lacking in any sort of emotion, her facial expression was completely unreadable! Try as he might to figure out if there was something he should be doing, Sora simply couldn't tell if Fuu was annoyed with him or if this was just how she always was. It really made him wonder how she and Kairi had become friends in the first place.

"Yo, Gainsborough!" Seifer called across the table. "Don't try hitting on Fuu, y'hear? She's got a boyfriend!"

Oh, because he was one to talk about showing restraint. "Does it look like I'm hitting on her? I wasn't trying to."

"She looks like she's havin' a little too much fun over there, so I'm warning you, pal."

That dead-eyed, semi-frowning face was the look of Fuu enjoying herself? Even if they were close friends, Sora couldn't understand how Seifer was able to distinguish her regular face from this one. Apparently, it wasn't only him though, as Kairi was also pestering the lavender-haired girl as if some exciting girly thing had just happened.

"You sly little mofo, Sora," Riku teased, punching him lightly on the arm. "I suppose after watching me in action you'd learn a thing or two, but I assumed you would've tried it on Kairi."

"Screw off, I was just trying to make conversation," Sora retorted. Leaning in a bit closer, he mumbled to Riku so that the others wouldn't hear. "Honestly, I couldn't even tell her mood had changed. Did she seem any…happier than before?"

Glancing over Sora's shoulder and taking a second to watch Fuu brush off Kairi's pestering, Riku mumbled back. "Looks the same as she did earlier to me. Tough luck, buddy; my date is a little easier to read!"

Having raised his voice a bit for the last bit, Riku's gloating was met with a whack to the head, courtesy of Xion, who, unlike Fuu, was _noticeably_ annoyed with his tactless choice of words.

For the first hour or so, they, along with all the other prom attendees, simply sat at their table, chatting and eating, occasionally taking the odd picture every now and then. Despite not really clicking with Fuu (or at least, he didn't think he was), Sora did his best to enjoy himself, spending a good amount of time joking around with Riku and Xion while the other three did their own thing. As much as he would have liked to talk to Kairi, there simply didn't seem to be any opportune moments to.

When the majority of people had finished their food, the light from the chandelier dimmed and changed from its regular colour to a spectrum of sorts. No more than a few seconds after, music begin pumping from the speakers as the DJ took his spot behind the booth.

"Ooh, finally!" Kairi cheered, grasping onto Fuu's wrist. "Let's go!"

Before she even had a chance to make her one-word response, the two girls were right in the thick of the newly formed crowd. Sora chuckled as he watched Kairi bounce around, wondering how long she would be able to dance in her heels and puffy dress. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he turned to see Riku and Xion standing, grinning at him as they gestured to the dance floor. Though he didn't exactly want to go up, he didn't want to be alone at the table with Seifer, so he complied without much hesitation and followed them into the crowd.

Once he was mixed in with all the other people, the brunet found himself only slightly caught in the mob mentality. Sora knew that his dance moves were, at best, mediocre, so rather than even possibly embarrassing himself, he opted for bouncing on beat, throwing in a bit of white boy shuffle every now and then. Thanks to the ear-shattering volume of the music, his laughter could not be heard as he looked at how animatedly Kairi flailed around next to Fuu, who was doing some sort of swaying motion with her unchanged expression.

At some point, Seifer entered the mix, though Sora was too busy turning down for WHAT to even take notice or show any signs of caring. However, he did want to get a chance to dance with Kairi, or at least dance in her general vicinity, but whenever he tried to maneuver his way over, Riku, Xion, or one of his other friends would pull him over. Considering the temperature in the room and the type of clothing everyone in the room was wearing, Sora wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up as he was pulled farther and farther into the cluster.

At one point, everyone stopped moving and Sora thought it might be his chance to get out and take a break from all the dancing, but found that no one was willing to let him through. When he realized that everyone had stopped because they were about to announce the prom king and queen, he had no choice but to stand and watch as a bunch of the popular people he didn't know that well lined up in front of the thrones. After the wave of cheers that erupted after the two were crowned, the DJ put on a slow track, giving Sora the best time to escape.

It seemed like ages before Sora finally managed to squirm his way out of the gyrating crowd of well-dressed but unfortunately sweaty people. Slowly making his way over to the table they'd been sitting at before, he wasted no time in taking off his tuxedo jacket and sitting to rest his aching feet and legs. This certainly wasn't the first dance Sora had been to, but he couldn't remember the last time he got quite so exhausted at one.

Glancing around, he couldn't seem to recognize anyone in the crowd or taking a break at their table, probably because all of his friends were going crazy in the middle of it all. Chuckling lightly, he took a drink of water from his glass on the table and checked the time. It wasn't too late yet, but he had a feeling his legs would give out if he tried to dance much more.

"Hey!" someone called to him from the side.

Glancing over, Sora was surprised to see Xion walking up to the table and even more so when she took a seat next to him.

"Hey," he responded simply. "You're not dancing with Riku?"

"Heh, try dancing for a couple hours straight in heels before asking me that again," she jeered, relaxing back in her chair. "Besides, we got separated in the crowd, so trying to find him again right now would be more effort than it's worth."

"You're not worried that he's going to do a whole bunch of Riku-type things while you aren't with him?"

"Sora, you know just as well as I do that he'd be doing those types of things if I was standing right next to him; it's just how he is."

"I guess so," Sora half chuckled half sighed, turning to see if he could spot the silver-haired teen amongst the other people.

"So, how come you aren't with your date?"

Turning back towards Xion, Sora shrugged and leaned himself against the table. "No reason, really. We got separated right away and then every time I tried heading in their direction someone would pull me away."

"Oops, guess Riku and I are partially to blame for that."

"Eh, don't worry about it. I couldn't tell if she liked me or not. I'm still kind of confused as to how she and Kairi became friends."

"Heehee, well, even if you didn't hit it off with her, Kairi still seemed pretty thrilled that you showed up."

Given that his face was already red simply from the level of activity, Sora couldn't say for sure whether that made him blush or not. Had Kairi really seemed so excited that he had shown up? It seemed to him that she was acting exactly the same as always, only she was all dressed up this time. Maybe Xion had just misinterpreted Kairi's enthusiasm; after all, those two hadn't really met each other until tonight.

"You totally like her, don't you, Sora," Xion added when he failed to respond to her previous comment.

"W-What?!" he cried in a flustered manner, thankful that his flushed cheeks still couldn't be distinguished. "No, it's nothing like that! I mean, sure, she's attractive and a lot of fun, but I don't think of her that way, really!"

"Mm-hmm, that's what they all say," the raven-haired girl teased, making faces at him that only made him feel more uncomfortable. "Anyway, I better go see if I can find Riku; he may be a flirtatious butthead, but he's _my_ flirtatious butthead. You want to come with me?"

"Nah, I think I'll just rest up for a while longer," Sora said, waving off her invitation.

"Suit yourself. If I see Kairi, I'll tell her to come get you."

Before he could protest, Xion was gone, already sucked into the horde of dancing people. So much for those heels making her legs tired; if she could move that fast, then she was either a soldier or a liar.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there watching the crowd. There were a few times when Sora considered rejoining the madness, but he always seemed to stop himself as he prepared to get up again. His legs weren't feeling overly sore anymore, so there really was nothing keeping him from going back in. Perhaps he couldn't be bothered to go searching for his friends. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Seifer was amongst the crowd.

Or perhaps it was because he kept subconsciously thinking about what Xion had said, rendering him too embarrassed to chance upon Kairi if he did go back in there…

Sora knew for a fact that he didn't think of Kairi in the way that everyone seemed to be implying. While he definitely thought of her as a friend, a relatively close one at this point, he could only see her as the bubbly, spontaneous girl who liked giving him kisses for no apparent reason other than "because she felt like it." While that was certainly something that made him imagine her possibly being something more, he also had to consider that she would kiss anyone if she and the other person were mutually willing. For all he knew, it was possible that right now she and Seifer were… Gross.

Trying to erase that image from his head, Sora shook his head rapidly and downed the rest of his water. Even though she said she would, and had proven herself to him, he still doubted that Kairi would literally go around kissing just anyone. Seifer's attempts to hit on her should have been a big red flag, and it wasn't like he was the most attractive guy around (then again, Sora had no idea what constituted an attractive guy).

Shaking his head again, he cursed under his breath at getting all worked up over this. Why did he care what Kairi was doing right now, anyway? Sure, he could say it was because he simply didn't want her to get involved with a guy who had proven time and again to be a total dick, but did it really matter that it was Seifer in particular? Maybe it wasn't just that Seifer was Kairi's date for the evening; maybe he was just feeling the tiniest bit jealous that it wasn't him…

Tired of shaking his head in failed attempts to clear his head, Sora looked up. As if some unconscious prayer of his had been answered, he spotted none other than the redhead he'd just been thinking about marching over towards their table at a brisk pace. Raising his hand to wave at her, his small smile turned into a look of shock when she suddenly grabbed him by the wrist and started dragging him toward the exit, giving him just enough time to grab his tux jacket as he stumbled behind her.

"K-Kairi, where are we going?" he stammered as she quickened her pace. He hadn't gotten a good look at her face, but it seemed that she was rather ticked off about something, though given her personality, she could just be rushing him off for something completely random and nonsensical.

It seemed that was not the case, as they were soon outside, squinting at the brightness of the setting sun. Figuring he wasn't going to get an answer from her anytime soon, Sora simply allowed her to drag him along; he didn't exactly dislike the fact that she had chosen to take him along wherever they were going. As they were walking across the parking lot, they stopped briefly so that Kairi could take off her heels, and Sora immediately noticed the increase in velocity once her feet were freed from their fashionable prison.

"Hey, um, Kairi," he murmured as she led him past the last row of cars and out of the parking lot, "I don't know if you want to tell me what happened but could you at least tell me where we're going?"

"Shh," she shushed him quickly, not even turning back to glance at him as she did so. Stiffening at the harshness of her usually lighthearted tone, Sora made sure to keep his mouth shut.

As they somewhat aimlessly trudged their way along the streets, Sora couldn't help wondering just how odd this must look to any people passing by in their cars. He hadn't been keeping track of exactly how long they had been walking, but taking into account that Kairi was moving fairly quickly, he could only guess that they were at least a half hour's normal walking distance away from the event hall. Luckily, the event hall wasn't exactly far from anything in the city, but Kairi didn't seem to be heading toward anything in particular.

Gulping, Sora prepared for some kind of backlash as he opened his mouth to speak. "U-Uh, Kairi? Do you want me to help you find wherever it is we're going?"

"I know where we're going."

"Then do you want me to carry you or something? Your feet must hurt by now."

"It's fine, we're almost there anyway."

He had never heard her speak so curtly before, but was thankful that she hadn't smacked him or anything for overstepping his boundaries (not that he thought he had in any sort of way). Was this how she got on with her brother? Then again, what could have happened back at prom to make her this peeved?

After walking a few more blocks, Kairi suddenly made a turn down the next corner, revealing the orange- and gold-tinged shoreline in the sunset. Deciding it would be better not to ask why they were here, Sora simply allowed her to keep pulling him along. Reaching the sidewalk beside the sand, the two walked parallel to the beach until they reached a boardwalk leading out to a lookout pier. Stepping quickly, Kairi finally released Sora's wrist and dropped her heels on the bench once they reached the end of the pier, allowing the confused brunet to collapse onto the bench beneath the gazebo.

Watching as Kairi stepped to the railing at the end of the pier, Sora racked his brain to think of reasons as to why she might have led him all the way out here. It was one thing to leave prom, but to leave and then drag him all the way to the beach? He couldn't think of any possible reason she would want to get so far away from the event hall.

Mentally apologizing to his tired legs, Sora heaved himself onto his feet and slowly meandered over to a spot on the railing beside Kairi.

"Is…is everything all right?" he asked cautiously, hoping to avoid setting her off in any way.

The redhead grumbled, adorning an expression that ill befitted her dressy attire and typical personality. Resting her cheek on the palm of her left hand, Kairi exhaled deeply, keeping her eyes fixed away from Sora.

"There's nothing worse in this world than pervy assholes who don't know when to take a hint," she stated angrily, the light of the setting sun emphasizing the ire in her eyes.

Sora didn't even have to take a second to wonder what had happened. "Seifer, huh? I knew there was going to be trouble the moment I saw him."

Kairi rolled her eyes and switched the hand she was resting on. "I should have expected it from the way he was acting at the table. Seriously, I've never even met the guy and everything was "Hey, babe" this and "Yo, cutie" that. I couldn't tell if he was being forward or if he just couldn't remember my name!"

_To be fair, you kissed me the first time we met_, Sora thought to himself, though didn't dare voice his thoughts. "Sorry, I feel like I should have given you a heads-up when I found out he was your date. I used to work with him and apparently he hasn't gotten any better since he got fired."

"You don't need to apologize," Kairi said, shaking her head and turning towards him. "It's not like you could have known he was going to be my date. I'm gonna have to have a serious talk with Fuu about how she chooses her friends."

Sora smirked but restrained himself from chuckling, as it didn't really seem the most appropriate time to laugh. Watching the waves glisten against the multitude of colours in the sky, the brunet cleared his throat and spoke with the utmost care.

"U-Uh, this might be insensitive of me to ask…and you certainly don't have to answer, but…what exactly happened? I mean, I could understand if he bugged you enough to make you want to step outside for a while, but it's kind of hard to imagine that things got bad enough that you wanted to walk across town in your dress."

Kairi hesitated for a moment, seemingly unsure if she wanted to speak about what had transpired at the dance. Flicking his eyes in her direction, Sora felt a pang of guilt strike his chest when he noticed the uncertainty on her face. It also filled him with rage that Seifer could have possibly done something so heinous that even Kairi, a girl who basically lived by her own rules, felt violated, and in a public dance of all places!

"I-It's probably not as bad as you might think," Kairi stammered out after a brief pause, turning her gaze back out to the horizon. "It wasn't like he was trying to get me to sleep with him or make out or something like that, but…I'm kind of sensitive about people…touching me…"

Sora blinked and turned to her. Was that something to feel self-conscious about? It seemed only natural that people, especially girls, wouldn't want to be groped.

"At first, I didn't really notice since we were in a crowd and bumping people was pretty much the only way to move," she continued, curling her free hands tightly around the railing. "I mean, when you're in a crowd, you don't really think much of it when someone touches your butt, right? Eventually, I just turned around and he was dancing behind me, but there still wasn't anything to get worked up over. It was when he was obviously trying to get all handsy with me that I told him to stop, but that didn't really do much. I think I flipped out when he tried to get me to grind on him."

A pinkish hue coloured her cheeks, but Sora still found nothing unreasonable about her getting upset. If anything, he was seething to knock a few of Seifer's teeth out right about now. What kind of person had so little respect for others' personal space that they would go out of their way to make things worse? He knew that people like this existed, but to actually know one of them in person made Sora want to vomit. Vomit on him.

"You don't need to be embarrassed," Sora said, taking on a comforting tone. "What you did was completely justified. If you didn't want him touching you, then he should have expected you to get upset when he went for it anyway. If nothing else, at least you won't have to see him again."

"Oh, I'll be sure I never do," she said bitterly, though her sour expression was slowly relaxing into the careless smile he had grown used to seeing. "Thanks, Sora."

"Huh? What for?"

Both teens turning to look at each other, Sora felt his cheeks warm up at the sight of Kairi's soft, unexaggerated smile. Her indigo eyes seemed to sparkle like the orange-coloured waves did, accentuating her beauty more than he had ever taken notice of before. The gentle curve of her lips and the smoothness of her skin suddenly made him feel self-conscious of his own looks, and how he must pale in comparison to her in a general scale of attractiveness.

"Well, you didn't complain after I dragged you all the way out here, and you listened to me rant on about some jerk."

Snapping out of the slight trance her hypnotic eyes had sent him into, Sora quickly formed a haphazard response to her thanking. "O-Oh, it was nothing, really. I mean, I'm sure any of your friends would have heard you out and it's not like I was going to whine while you were obviously upset. I'm just a little curious as to why you decided to pick _me_ to come with you."

"Mm, I guess because you were looking a little lonely all by yourself," she giggled. "That and you were probably the only person I could bring along. If I had dragged Fuu along with me, Seifer would have followed us, so when I saw you sitting alone at the table, I decided to grab you."

"So, basically you brought me along on a whim…"

"Heehee, I thought you knew me well enough by now to know that everything I do is based on whims."

Sora sighed but couldn't help his lips from curling into a wide grin. This girl was like experiencing heaven and hell at the same time: the most intriguing person he knew while also being the one who caused him no end of trouble. Everything she chose to do had some sort of reason, and yet her reasons tended to be too senseless to comprehend. She was perhaps the most simple-minded person that Sora knew, which somehow made her the least understandable of his close friends. How he had wound up meeting such a contradictory paradox of a girl, well, the reason could probably speak for itself.

"Ah, geez, I didn't even think about how I would get home," Kairi groaned when she realized that she didn't have a ride from here. "It's too far to walk, too…"

"My place isn't far from here," Sora suggested with a shrug. "You could call a cab to come pick you up from there."

A devious smirk formed on her face, making Sora regret opening his mouth with any sort of suggestion. "Eager to bring me back to your apartment, Sora?" Kairi laughed. "Didn't we just discuss the fact that I hate persistent pervs?"

"W-Wasn't it _you_ who insisted on staying at my place the first time around?" Sora defended nervously, holding his hands in front of his chest and taking a couple steps back from Kairi. "I was just thinking it'd be easier to tell the cab to come to a building than to scout out for one of the piers along the beach."

Still laughing, Kairi began walking toward the bench to grab her shoes. "I'm just teasing you. Anyway, your offer sounds a lot better since I left my phone in my purse, which is back at the dance. I'll just call my house from your apartment and have someone pick me up."

"Um, you aren't worried about what'll happen to your stuff?" Sora asked as he followed after her.

"Nope, Fuu will grab it for me and return it within a couple days."

"And you won't get in trouble for losing it?"

"My parents are only in town for this weekend and my brother doesn't care about what I do with my things, as long as he doesn't have to pay for them."

"I see."

The walk towards Sora's apartment went just as he would have expected, filled with nonsense conversation topics brought about by Kairi and countless odd looks from passersby. At one point, Sora offered to carry the shoeless redhead after she'd stepped on a few irritating pebbles, but she waved it off with naught but a mischievous smirk and a comment that left him feeling embarrassed.

Upon reaching the building, Sora began to feel a bit guilty that he couldn't offer to drive her home himself; however, being a student with a part-time job, he was lucky to even afford the rent on his apartment. It would be quite some time before he bought himself a car, and even then he would probably have to share it with Roxas.

Unlocking the door to his apartment, Sora froze up when he saw Roxas and the blonde hostess from the restaurant, Naminé, sitting on the couch together.

"Uh, hey," he started awkwardly. "Am I…interrupting something?"

"W-What's that supposed to mean?!" Roxas sputtered back as both his and Naminé's faces instantly turned beet red. "Anyway, you're back earlier than I expected…and with Kairi… Should we leave?"

"Now you're the one being stupid!" Sora shouted back, feeling his face start burning up. From his peripherals, he noticed Kairi peeking her head over his shoulder and could only assume she was the only one without flushed cheeks.

"Heehee, you guys are way too innocent," she giggled, confirming Sora's assumption. "And is that Naminé over there?"

Finally stepping inside the apartment, Sora watched as the blonde girl waved timidly at the dressed up redhead. "Ehehe, hi, Kairi. W-What are you doing here?"

"I just needed to use this guy's phone so I could get a ride home," she announced almost proudly, as if Sora was some sort of tool to her. "More importantly, are you on a date? Like, Naminé, the girl who had trouble venturing outside without at least two other people, is on a date?"

"It's not a date!" Roxas and Naminé shouted simultaneously, flicking off the TV as if that would change something.

"Um, I'm just gonna butt in and ask how you know her," Sora cut in awkwardly as he handed Kairi his house phone.

"Our families are really close," Kairi stated nonchalantly, pushing the buttons to dial her house. "She's basically like my little sister, except that she's apparently been keeping your brother a secret from me."

"I-It's not like that!" Naminé cried out, but Kairi simply winked at her and held the phone up to her ear.

"So," Roxas began as Sora took a seat at the table, "how come you guys are back so early? I figured you'd be there for at least a few more hours."

"Eh, it's kind of…complicated," Sora explained, glancing at Kairi as she spoke on the phone. "Long story short: she wanted to leave, I got dragged in somehow, and now she's trying to get a ride home."

"She really likes dragging you around, doesn't she?" Roxas chuckled before turning to Naminé. "Has she always been like that?"

"Kind of," the blonde said quietly, apparently still trying to figure out what was happening in the room. "It's probably better to say that she's more energetic than most, and her close friends usually end up going with her whether they want to or not."

"I take it you've had your fair share of Kairi, then?" Sora chuckled, to which Naminé laughed and nodded in affirmation.

"Okay, my dad's picking me up!" Kairi announced as she hung up the phone. As if to further confirm Naminé's statement, the redhead quickly grabbed Sora by the wrist. "Let's go wait out front for him!"

Not giving him the chance to make any sort of response, the two were already out the door and into the elevator. Somewhat dazed from how quickly she'd managed to pull him around, Sora had to take a moment to regain his bearings, though it didn't matter much, as Kairi was quick to pull him along once they reached the ground floor. Practically bursting out the front doors of the building, Kairi took on a triumphant pose while Sora simply tried to catch his breath. Knowing better than to question her antics, however, he simply let the whole thing slide.

"I guess you're feeling better now?" Sora asked, though it was more of a statement than a question.

"Yep! I still need to have that talk with Fuu when she comes to drop off my stuff, but now that I know I won't have to ever run into that guy again, I feel loads better!"

Sora chuckled at her enthusiasm, wondering if she might be able to share some of it with him. With even a drop of what she had, he could probably become Axel's boss by the end of the summer, nay, the end of the month! It wasn't as though he was looking to rise through the ranks at the temp agency (if that was even possible), but it was an interesting thought.

"Are you still planning on working all summer?" he asked, hoping to keep a sensible conversation going for once.

"Mhm, I already have a job lined up, too," she said proudly.

"Oh? Where at?"

"It's a secret!"

"…Does that mean it's somewhere shady?"

"Didn't we just go over how I hate being touched?"

"What, you mean like this?"

At that moment, Sora poked her in the side. Kairi let out a light yelp and hopped away from him, her dress bouncing as she landed. Not knowing fully what he'd gotten himself into, Sora laughed at her reaction, but was quickly set upon by a flurry of pokes to his sides.

"Ha, take that!" Kairi laughed, swatting away his hands as he tried to counter her. "You think you're so clever, mister, but I'm the tickle master!"

"Since when did this become a tick– Ah, K-Kairi, ahaha, s-stop!"

In the brief moment he'd taken to ask when this became a tickle fight, Kairi had somehow gained the upper hand, catching him off-guard as she mercilessly went after his sides and armpits. Unable to defend against her attacks, Sora could only try to back away from her. He thought he was fairly aware of his surroundings, but failed to notice the roundabout's curb behind his heel. Stumbling backwards, his unconscious instincts made him grab onto Kairi's hands, sending them both down onto the pavement. Luckily, he managed to land in a sitting position, but Sora wasn't sure how to react to Kairi's current positioning.

With his hands supporting him from falling back, Sora found himself face-to-face with Kairi, who stared right back at him with an equally surprised look. Her puffy dress covered most of his view of their waists down, but he could tell that she had fallen between his legs. One of her hands was on the ground near his while the other rested firmly on his chest, placed right next to the pocket on his jacket.

In his current position, Sora could do nothing, as she had him more or less pinned down. He expected some sort of suggestive comment or another tickle attack, but Kairi surprised him by doing nothing at all, simply continuing to stare right into his eyes. He felt uncomfortable, but at the same time he wanted to stay like this a little longer. There was no urge to hold her, touch her, or even kiss her; Sora simply wanted to continue staring into her mesmerizing eyes.

What was this feeling, stirring within his chest? Why was his heart starting to beat faster when he knew that he did not want to make any sort of move on her? Was he nervous? Excited? What was she thinking right now? Did she want him to do something? Perhaps she was too stunned to know what to do either. They should be getting up, though, especially if her father was on his way. Sora knew that, yet he couldn't bring himself to say it to Kairi, who knew just as well that her ride would be here soon.

It felt like they had been in that position for a long time, but when Kairi finally began to stand herself up, Sora could only feel as though they had not stayed like that long enough. It had probably only been about a minute that they were like that, but a minute of doing nothing but staring at each other felt like a lifetime and contrarily it was over in the blink of an eye.

"S-Sorry," Kairi said as she helped pull up the speechless brunet. "I guess I got a little too carried away."

"No, no, I-I should have been paying more attention," Sora also apologized, picking up her dropped shoes for her.

The two of them were oddly silent as they continued waiting for Kairi's ride to show up. While he wasn't feeling particularly embarrassed, Sora simply could not find anything to say after what had just transpired. It was times like this that he depended on the redhead's spontaneity and ability to quickly brush things off, but it seemed as though she was deep in thought, leaving him to wonder what she could be thinking about.

"That looks like him," Kairi said after a while, pointing toward a car stopped at an intersection about four blocks down the street.

Only glancing at the car for a moment, Sora turned toward Kairi, wanting to say something but still unsure exactly what he could say to her. Saying goodbye now would be weirdly early, but there simply wasn't enough time to start some kind of conversation now. Standing in this awkward silence was really starting to bother him, though.

"Hey, Sora?" she said quietly, sending a wave of relief over him.

"What's up?"

"Um…" she began, chewing on her lip and twisting back and forth as she tried to figure out what she was saying. "Well, thanks again for putting up with me."

Sora cocked his head to the side, confused by where this was coming from. "Putting up with you? Kairi, I hang out with you because I like to."

"Even though I dragged you around against your will?" she asked, the uncertain expression remaining on her face.

Smiling softly, Sora scratched behind his ear in an amused manner. "It's not like I didn't enjoy wandering around with you. Besides, if I was annoyed from something like that, do you think I would want to hang out with you all the time? To be honest, that was one of your milder antics."

Kairi let out a small giggle at his words, the uncertainty giving way to the same soft, unexaggerated smile she had shown him on the pier earlier. "Well, when you put it that way, I guess I should just keep playing around with you like I always do."

"Of course; I'd be concerned if you stopped," he laughed.

"Mm, Sora? Um…thanks for being my date tonight."

"Huh? I wasn't your date, though."

"I don't want to think of Seifer as my date. A real date is when the guy is kind, caring, and escorts his lady around like she's an actual human being."

"…In that sense, wouldn't that have made you the guy and me the lady? You know, since you were the one leading."

"Heehee, minor details," Kairi giggled, stepping closer to Sora when the car stopped just one intersection away. "But seriously, thanks, Sora. You're a really sweet guy, and someone I know I can depend on."

Blushing profusely at their proximity, her words, and the fact that her father could probably see them right now, Sora sheepishly scratched behind his ear again and tried to keep his cool. Darting his eyes in every direction but at her face, he responded, "Y-Yeah, no problem. If you ever need anything, just let me know and I'll do my best to help you out."

There was a pause after he spoke, making him nervous about what might happen next.

"Then, can you look at me for a second?" she said gently, cupping one of his cheeks in her hand.

Swallowing, Sora slowly shifted his gaze from the sky to her face, where she was gazing back at him with a rather nondescript expression. Watching as she circled her other hand behind his head, he felt his nerves set aflame when she closed her eyes and lightly pecked him on the cheek. Somehow, this kiss was so different from the ones she'd spontaneously decided to place on his lips before. Despite the fact that this one did not even last a full second, he felt the emotions that she was trying to send him, full of her gratefulness for what he considered to be regular measures to go for a friend. Even after she unraveled her arms and stepped away from him, Sora was stuck in a state of awe, unsure how he was meant to react.

"Well, I'll see you at commencement," she said as her father's car pulled up beside them. "'Night, Sora, and thanks again."

Only able to bring a quivering hand up to the spot she had kissed, he shakily nodded to her as she seated herself in the backseat of the car. Watching as the car quickly drove off, Sora could do nothing but stand there until his nerves had calmed down. Slowly moving his hand away from his cheek so that he could look at his fingers, Sora's tense jaw slackened, and he gently closed his hand into a fist.

"High school life ends this Sunday," he mumbled to himself. "If I'm lucky, Kairi will still want to drag me around once it's all over."

With that, he turned around and headed back up to his apartment, ready to take the first "official" step into the real world.

* * *

This turned out about 2000 words longer than I'd expected it to :P. It took me about four days to write the first 1500 words, and then the next day I just sat down and pumped out another 6500 in one go. Hopefully writing will go this smoothly from now on, eh?

And the fluff seal for this story has been officially broken! Maybe that's why I ended up writing so much for this chapter, but what can I say: I'm a fluff fanatic. Now, that isn't to say that every time Sora and Kairi get together that they're going to instantly snap into a great big fluffy kafuffle (kafluffle?), but I am super excited to get their relationship moving. Then, of course, there's all the side things like the RokuNami and the…Xiku? Rion? Whatever, there's that stuff too, so don't be worried about a shortage of fluff!

Thanks to **DarkAceKirby** and **Guest** for reviewing! Where'd everyone else go, though? Ah well, hopefully it picks up a bit later on.

Thanks for reading and please review!

–_GengaJupite_


	6. Our Secret Place

I changed the story summary and feel rather satisfied with how it reads now. I don't know what it is about KH summaries, but I never feel content with the first ones that I write when I post the stories. On an unrelated note, I randomly came up with more story ideas over the past few weeks, and hate the fact that I won't be able to start writing them until the three I'm currently writing are done. In case you're wondering, two of them are KH and some basic summaries have been posted to my profile (see _Secret Base_ and the unnamed one after it).

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one

* * *

_Our Secret Place_

"And so, it is with great pleasure that I send all of you off into what I'm sure will be your successful futures. Congratulations, class of 2014, you are officially graduated."

The amphitheatre erupted in a round of cheers and applause as the new graduates happily tossed their caps into the air. They had done it; they had made it through the first major step in their lives and were heading toward the unknown, their spirits bursting with optimism and anxiousness.

Picking up the cap that landed nearest to him, Sora brushed some dust off the top of it. Holding the cap in one hand and the tassel in the other, he couldn't help feeling relieved that this part of his life was over. While he still hadn't decided where he was going with his life or even some minor five-year goals, he had at least begun the journey to that unknown place. This stringy tassel atop his cap was his first trophy.

Suddenly tackled from behind, he grunted as he was forced into a headlock and felt Riku's knuckles rubbing against his scalp.

"Can you believe it, man? We did it! Friggin' high school can kiss my ass now!"

"Heh, I'm pretty sure you were saying stuff like that while we were still in high school," Sora chuckled as he wriggled himself free from the taller teen's grip.

"Yeah, but now they can't do anything to me if I do," Riku laughed. Sora couldn't suppress his own laughter from bubbling forth as he spotted the guidance counselors glaring in their direction.

The large crowd slowly began breaking off into smaller groups as people celebrated, cried, and took pictures together. Sora and Riku quickly bumped into Xion and her parents, and eventually ran into Cloud and Tifa as well. While they stopped to chat and reminisce about older times, the brunet glanced around as inconspicuously as he could, hoping to spot a certain redhead amongst the crowd.

"Looking for someone?" a familiar voice said teasingly into his ear.

Jumping in surprise, Sora nearly knocked his head against Kairi's as he hopped a couple feet away from her. Thankful that he had avoided such a mishap, he only sighed as the bubbly girl giggled beside him. A short distance behind her, Roxas and Naminé were walking in their direction with some very professional-looking redheads that Sora could only assume were Kairi's parents. Counting them out, it seemed that her infamous brother was not in attendance.

"Can you believe it, Sora?! We're graduated!" Kairi shouted excitedly, waving her arms around wildly. People all around her had to back up a few steps with the way the loose gown sleeves flapped around.

"Heh, I know it's exciting, but you should chill out a little," he chuckled, calmly placing his arms on her shoulders until she stopped flailing about.

"You don't seem very excited," she said while raising an eyebrow at him.

Sora shrugged. "I already live on my own and work a job to pay my rent, so this doesn't feel like much of an accomplishment."

Merely blinking as Kairi lightly karate chopped his head, he couldn't help smirking at the pouty face she was giving him.

"Estúpido," she deadpanned.

"No habla español."

"That was Portuguese."

"Well, I don't speak that either."

"Baaaakaaaa~"

"What makes you think I would speak Japanese? Better yet, why are you calling me stupid in the first place?"

"Aha, so you _do_ understand!"

"…Yes, because "estúpido" and "stupid" are so different from each other…"

Kairi giggled, but quickly put on her grumpy expression again and pointed right at his face in an accusative fashion. "Sora! Today is not the day to be acting bored and apathetic! We just took our first steps out of the crib and became full-fledged, working adults!"

"Wow, from babies to businessmen in a matter of seconds. That's got to be some kind of record."

"Your sarcasm and cynicism are not appreciated! Sora, I order you to be excited about today!"

"I don't really recall being cynical…"

"Hold it! You claim that you have never given off the impression of finding people to be motivated by self-interest, yet you clearly show signs of caring only about your own future!"

"…What is this charade even supposed to be…? Fine, I'll just pretend I'm a cynic so we can move on…"

"Objection!"

"If you two are done playing lawyer," Roxas suddenly butted in, snapping them – or rather, Kairi – out of their shenanigans, "Nam and I were thinking of treating you guys to lunch at Cid's Grill."

"Oh wow, really?" Kairi asked, her face beaming.

"Well, we can get everything for you at half off, so it's not such a big deal," said Naminé. "Just…don't make a mess, Kairi."

"Just get her a kid's menu and she'll keep herself entertained," Riku chuckled, earning himself a kick in the shin from Kairi.

"Maybe we should just head off now before this gets too chaotic," Sora suggested, earning nods from his peers. Stripping off their baggy gowns, the teens parted from their families and headed off for their day of excitement.

キングダムハーツキングダムハーツキングダムハーツ

"Aaand checkmate!"

"You realize there's no such thing as checkmate in tic-tac-toe, right, Riku?"

"Eh, doesn't matter, I still smoked Sora's ass!"

"…Explain how I ended up in a relationship with you again."

"Still not Facebook official."

Sora laughed as Riku ignored Xion's elbow and began moving on to another part of the paper kid's menu with his provided crayon. Everyone half sighed half chuckled as he began circling things like "fug," "dyck," and "shti" in the word search puzzle. It was completely typical of him to do something like that, so no one could really complain.

"It's kind of ironic that he ended up being the one playing with the kid's menu after saying I would need one," Kairi giggled, though in front of her sat a paper hat folded from none other than an already completed kid's menu that she had in fact used to entertain herself for all of five minutes.

Sora glanced over at Xion and exchanged a look with her that couldn't quite be described in words. Both smirking at one another, it was clear that they had shared the same thought: they were like the parents to two bickering, ridiculous children. Well, they would be if Xion weren't dating the son…

"I swear, no one else working here would believe that you guys are older than us if they didn't know you were family," Roxas chuckled to Sora from across the table.

"Hey, c'mon, have Xion or I done anything to make ourselves seem childish?" Sora retorted.

"You just finished five games of tic-tac-toe with Riku and Xion is trying to take the crayon from him," Roxas pointed out, looking at the raven-haired girl attempting to wrest control of the wax colouring utensil.

"You're also wearing a paper hat," Naminé giggled, to which Sora confusedly reached up and felt said hat resting atop his spikes.

"Aww, I was going to take a picture!" Kairi whined, dropping her phone onto the table.

"There is way too much going on right now for just the six of us at this one table," Sora sighed, hoping that they weren't causing too much of a ruckus for the other people dining. Luckily, this restaurant was more of an evening place, so it wasn't too busy right now.

Fortunately, for Sora at least, things seemed to calm down once everyone had gotten their food. None of them were childish enough to start playing with their edibles, after all, so the energy levels were much more subdued, though Riku did not allow the topics of conversation to change much from the norm.

"So, I guess you're gonna keep living with Roxas," Kairi said, turning away from whatever offhanded remark Riku was making to speak to Sora.

"Yeah, I mean, it's not like I have any reason to move out, and the place is under my name right now anyway," Sora said plainly as he bit off part of his French fry. "How come?"

"Oh, no reason," the redhead twittered. "I just wasn't sure if you were planning on moving away and becoming a millionaire or something."

"Heh, I think you're overestimating my abilities a little, and by a little I mean a few hundred times over."

Kairi giggled a bit as she sipped from her straw, glancing over toward Roxas. "Then what about you, little bro? Are you planning to stay where you are after graduating, too?"

Roxas shrugged. "I don't plan on sharing an apartment with Sora forever, but I'm not in a huge rush to move out or anything. Maybe if I get promoted to an actual chef in the kitchen, then I might start thinking about getting my own place."

"Ooh, a nice li'l love den for you and Nami, eh?" she jeered.

"K-Kairi!" Naminé spluttered as she choked on her drink. The redhead simply laughed away as the two blondes tried to regain their composure, though their flushed cheeks would not settle back to a regular colour.

"That aside," Sora cleared his throat to help direct the attention off of them, "you aren't planning on moving out either, are you, Kairi?"

"Mm, no, but only because I don't have enough munny to right now," she mused. "Once I do, though, I won't waste a second finding a place."

"Maybe you should stay with Sora; I doubt he would complain," Riku laughed, ignoring the embarrassed glare that was given in return.

"Heehee, you know, that might be the first place I go to if I ever run away again," she chuckled lightheartedly. "I can't exactly impose on Nami if she and Roxas are going to get it on all the time."

"Would you stop?! How many times have we said we aren't like that!" Roxas shouted at her. "And it's not like I would want to be around if you and Sora are always going to be doing that stuff at our place."

"Hey, don't joke about that, little bro. Sora and I are only friends."

"Yeah, but… You keep saying…Nam and I… Ugh, just forget it…hypocrite…"

"Wouldn't it make more sense to stay with one of your other friends?" Sora asked as Roxas grumbled to Naminé. "I feel like it would make more sense for you to stay with a girl than with Roxas and me."

"True, but then I would have to get the okay from their parents and I would feel like I was freeloading off of them."

"Yet, somehow, freeloading off of us is completely okay…?"

"Do you want me to pay rent?"

"I think you're missing the point here," Sora sighed, attempting to end this conversation before it spiraled out of control. "Anyway, let's all just be glad that we know what we're going to be doing at least until the end of summer."

That seemed to do the trick, as everyone gave some sign of agreement and struck up new conversations. Relieved, Sora sank back in his chair a bit and sipped from the straw of his drink. He never would have imagined that simply chatting with friends could tire him out so much. He was used to Riku's antics, but compared to the exhaustion of subduing Kairi, putting up with Riku was bonehead easy.

Glancing at the redhead beside him, Sora felt his chest stirring as she laughed about something with Xion. The memory of Kairi falling on top of him in front of his apartment suddenly resurfaced in his mind, and he quickly darted his eyes in another direction. Something about her had seemed so different that evening, and yet it hadn't even occurred to him at the time. Here sitting next to him, Kairi seemed like her usual, bubbly self, acting silly and teasing everyone when she got the chance. Back then, though, she opened herself up to him, revealing her insecurities and showing him her vulnerable side. She was Kairi then, just as she is still Kairi now, a girl whom Sora doubted he would ever fully be able to understand yet still found himself inexplicably drawn to.

"Hellooo? Earth to Sora!"

Blinking in surprise, the brunet backed his head away from where Kairi's hand was waving erratically in front of his face. "Huh? Oh, sorry, what'd you say?"

"I asked if you had any plans right now," she repeated, putting her hand back on the table. "We're all done here, but I don't really want to go home just yet. If you're free, we can hang out, right?"

Doing his best to ignore the suggestive smirks from everyone else around the table, Sora shrugged indifferently, though he was secretly feeling pretty good that she had suggested it.

"Yeah, sure. I don't have to work or anything, so I've got all day."

Beaming at him, the redhead quickly hopped to her feet as if they did not have a second to spare. "Great, let's go! There's this really great spot I want to show you!"

Continuing not to waste any time, she grasped onto the brunet's wrist and dragged him toward the exit. Getting farther from the table, the last thing Sora heard before they went out the doors was Riku shouting, "You should show me this _special spot_ next time!" Glancing back, he could only smirk at the sight of Xion promptly kicking him in the shin.

Hardly moving his legs fast enough to keep up with the speed that Kairi was dragging him, Sora stumbled along behind her, swerving back and forth to avoid signposts and other people on the sidewalks. Was it really necessary for her to be moving this quickly? Considering it was already the middle of the day, it was too late to beat any sort of morning crowd, and somehow Sora was not under the impression that she wanted to show him a crowded place.

"I-I think you can slow down a bit," he stammered, barely moving in time to avoid slamming into another person. "This place isn't going anywhere."

As if he had just made a groundbreaking statement, Kairi suddenly skidded to a halt, stumbling forward when the unexpected change of speed caused Sora to run into her. Both regaining their footing, Kairi turned to him with a sheepish look on her face and stuck out her tongue.

"Heehee, sorry, I didn't realize I was going so fast," she chuckled melodically.

"It's fine," Sora said, feeling grateful that they didn't have to keep running around town. "Where are we headed, anyway? I can't really imagine many places that I haven't been to around here."

"Mm, it's a secret, but I promise that it's really cool!" she cheered enthusiastically, letting go of his wrist and starting to walk at a normal pace. "Besides, it's not like you've been _everywhere _in Twilight Town."

"Heh, I think you're forgetting what my main hobby is," he chortled. "And now that I think about it, how come you didn't invite anyone else to come? If it's such a cool spot, you would think that they might want to check it out too, right?"

"I guess." Kairi paused for a while, tapping her chin as she gazed upwards. Unsure of what she was doing, Sora waited for her to finish whatever her thought may have been. "I think I only invited you because I wanted us to have a secret."

"A secret?"

"Yeah, you know, like something that only the two of us know about. I didn't want to just spring some random fact about myself onto you and call that a secret, so I figured that we could have our own little spot."

Not knowing exactly what to say, Sora faced forward and scratched his head in thought. It wasn't what he would call an outrageous – or in Kairi's case, normal – idea, but it did seem a little odd. After all, as close as he wanted to believe he and the redhead had become, they had really only been friends for about a month now. Usually, a secret hangout like this would be something one might find with a childhood friend or relationship partner, of which Sora was neither.

"Is…something wrong?" Kairi asked, bending forward so she could see his face. "If having a spot is weird or something, it doesn't have to be one. I still want to show it to you, but we don't have to make it into anything meaningful."

"No, no, it's nothing like that," Sora responded quickly. "I was just…uh…wondering what kind of place it is, that's all."

The concern on Kairi's face melted away into a gleeful expression, and the redhead happily skipped ahead a few steps so that she could walk backwards and face him. Sora inwardly sighed, thankful that she did not try prying into what he was thinking about. He wasn't very fond of being teased by her if he could prevent it from happening, so rather than bringing up that he had been questioning how close they were, he saved himself from any potential embarrassment.

But when he thought about it, the brunet really had no clue how close they were supposed to be. While it seemed obvious that he was confused about what he was to Kairi, he had never really stopped to think about what Kairi was to him. They had certainly become fast friends in the single month they had known each other, and it surprised him to see just how quickly their friendship had formed. Beyond that, though, it was hard to distinguish the line between friend and close companion. They certainly weren't at a stage where the words 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend' came to mind, but it almost felt like she had become more than a friend to him. That wasn't to say that he liked her in a romantic sense, but he still wanted to know her as more than just the crazy, bubbly girl who constantly kept his life on edge.

Having lost himself in thought, Sora realized that he had not been keeping track of where they were when he snapped back into it. While this part of town did not seem unfamiliar, he could not say for sure that he knew where they were. Making sure to pay more attention to his surroundings, he followed Kairi's lead as they turned down an alleyway.

One of the things that Sora had always liked about Twilight Town was that there were no large areas of poverty and homelessness. Of course, like any large city, there were sketchy places and people that got involved in shady dealings, but for the most part, running into these people, especially during the daytime, was rare. Because of this, walking down an alley during the day was usually no different than walking down the street.

Emerging on the other side of the alley, they were in a larger clearing surrounded by buildings and entrances into other alleyways. He had definitely walked through here at some point or another, but Sora did not have any business being around here, as it was mostly bars, meeting halls, and clubs that he had no reason to enter unless his job required him to. For this reason, he became more curious as to where Kairi might be leading him.

Turning down another one of the alleys, he followed the redhead into an alcove on the side and watched as she jumped up to grab onto a hanging ladder. As if she had done it hundreds of times before (a point that Sora would not put past her), Kairi jiggled the ladder around for a while until it unhooked from the lock and slid down. Had he tried doing it, Sora knew that he would have fallen flat on his back, but Kairi landed firmly on her feet, keeping a tight grip on the ladder so that it would not clatter against the ground and bring unwanted attention.

"You're just a little rebel, aren't you?" Sora taunted as she smiled back at him.

"Heh, you might think so, but I've never gotten in trouble for doing this and I don't expect to anytime soon."

Taking her word for it, Sora followed Kairi up the ladder and pulled himself up onto the ledge so they could walk up the metal staircase that zigzagged up the side of the building. With all the noise that stepping on these stairs made, he was somewhat surprised that Kairi had never gotten in trouble for climbing up here. Once they had reached the roof, she led him over to one of the skylights that looked down into the building.

"Wait here for a sec, 'kay?" she said, running off to some sort of storage shed. Why there was an unlocked storage shed on the roof, Sora had no idea, but he had already let Kairi lead him this far, so there was no reason to question it at this point. After a few moments, she returned with a couple of foldout chairs.

"So, would you care to enlighten me on how it was that you managed to find this place?" Sora asked as he took one of the chairs from Kairi. "I'm assuming you didn't randomly decide to unhook a ladder and climb up onto the roof of the building."

"Would you be surprised if I said that was the reason?"

"If it were anyone but you, yes, but since it is you, not in the slightest."

"Aww, you're no fun."

The two of them laughed and unfolded their chairs. Taking a seat, the first thing Sora noticed was the view. From where they were seated, he could see almost the entire city, which surprised him a great deal, as he hadn't initially thought this building to be all that tall. If he turned another direction, however, all he would see were the tops of the other buildings around him, so he settled for facing the city before him.

From somewhere below them, the sound of a saxophone quietly floated up to where they were. With the sounds of the city and the light breeze, it was rather subtle, but the soft melody that the musician played out was a nice accompaniment to this strangely relaxing situation he'd found himself in.

"So, what do you think of this place?" Kairi asked, her eyes glimmering with hope.

Sora shrugged as he turned to her. "To be honest, I wasn't really sure what to expect, but it's nice. If you want this to be our secret spot, then I'm cool with that."

"Really? Oh great, that saves me a ton of work!" she laughed, sinking back into her chair. "I had, like, twelve other places in mind that we could go to if you didn't like this one, but I was hoping this one would be good enough for you."

"Twelve? Geez, you must have a lot of time on your hands if you can spend it all finding secret little nooks around town."

"Said the pot to the kettle."

"Hey, now, I just go for walks."

"Yeah, you're like an old man trying to get in his daily exercise. But I guess I should thank my stupid brother for helping me find this place. After all, I wouldn't have known about it if he hadn't told me."

Sora scratched his head as he tried to piece together how she had managed to find this place for real. "Wait, didn't you say you found this place on your own?"

Kairi gave him a blank look before she started giggling. "Haha, Sora, you didn't actually believe that I tried jiggling a ladder and climbing onto the roof of some random building down an alley because I was bored, did you?"

"Um, yeah, I did. I mean, it sounds like something you might try, so I figured you were telling the truth," Sora sighed, turning back to look out at the city.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm her laughter, Kairi also turned to look out at the city. "Even I have my limits. Anyway, my brother is good friends with the owner of the jazz bar we're on top of, and for some reason he decided to tell me about the way to get up on the roof. I've never gotten in trouble for coming up here because the owner says I can whenever I want, so it doesn't matter if someone catches me."

"I guess that's kind of convenient, but this place doesn't exactly seem ideal for when it rains or snows," Sora pointed out, gazing around at the lack of covered areas on the roof.

"Heehee, why do you think I have twelve other secret spots?"

"…Then your whole spiel about this being a secret between just you and me doesn't mean anything? I mean, if you have twelve other spots, then that must mean you have twelve other people."

"No, no, no, silly," Kairi said, lightly bopping the top of Sora's head. "If I had twelve other people to fill those spots, then I wouldn't have been willing to show them to you, would I? Besides, even if I _had_ planned on assigning people to different places, I would just end up forgetting who went where and get confused."

Sora chuckled, taking her word for truth. When he thought about what she was saying, though, it left him with that same feeling he had experienced while they were heading over here. Why was it that Kairi wanted to share a secret place with him and no one else? From an objective point of view, someone would probably say that it was because she liked him, but he knew firsthand that Kairi treated him exactly the same way she treated everyone else. Well, maybe she treated him a little more intimately, but there was something about the way she did it that never made him feel as though she liked him as a guy rather than a friend. It was more like the kisses were the most effective way to tease him, so she did it for that reason and nothing more. The only time it had seemed different was the time after prom, but that still wasn't a definitive moment that could prove she liked him.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" he blurted out, not even realizing he had until Kairi perked up.

"Sure, I'm listening."

"Uh…I…um, well, it's…" he stalled, trying to decide what he should do, considering he hadn't actually meant to ask her anything. "Y-You know what, never mind."

"What? Oh, come on, Sora, you can't just do that!" she whined. "Now I'm not going to be able to think about anything except for this."

"But you don't even know what I was going to ask," he explained, though he wasn't quite sure what he was going to ask either (or at least how he was going to word it).

"Yeah, but…but it's still going to bug me! I promise I won't talk about it if it's embarrassing!" she begged, clapping her hands together and bowing her head down.

Though feeling hesitant to go through with it, Sora could see that she was not going to give up on this. Strengthening his resolve, the brunet took a moment to form the question in his head first so that he would not end up sounding stupid when he asked.

"I guess…I've just kind of been wondering what the two of us are," he said slowly, leaning on one of the armrests of his chair.

"Hmm? Um…we're people," Kairi responded in a question-like manner while raising her head back up. "Unless you're an alien or something."

Shaking his head lightly, Sora reworded his statement. "No, I mean, like, what are _we_ to each other. It's sort of been on my mind all day; I don't know if we're just friends or if we're supposed to be more than friends but not dating or if I'm completely off the mark right now. I know we've only known each other for a month–"

"I don't think it matters what we are," Kairi cut him off. He gave her a confused look, but she was ready to explain. Giving a short chuckle, she continued, "Well, why does our relationship need to have a label on it? We aren't dating, so you might as well just say that we're friends. Getting any more complex with it is just more work than you need to put yourself through."

The way she answered was quite prompt, and Sora couldn't help thinking that perhaps she had given this a fair amount of thought as well. Then again, perhaps he had spent a ton of time thinking about it when it really wasn't much of a big deal.

"I kind of knew you would start questioning the kisses after a while," she said, her voice taking on a more serious tone. "And if it's confusing or bothering you, then I can stop. I was honestly only doing it to tease you, but I don't want to send any wrong messages."

"Heh, don't worry, I'd kind of figured that part out for myself," Sora chuckled breathily. "If you really want to know, it was more to do with how close we had gotten in such a short amount of time. Not even just the fact that we've only known each other like this for a month, but I let you stay over at my apartment on the same night that we met. That, added to our instant friendship, and I suppose the kisses as well, made me start wondering what we were supposed to be."

Kairi didn't say anything, instead opting for thinking in silence. Though the sound of the saxophone continued to resonate where they were, the lack of conversation was uncomfortable. Wanting to break out of this discomfort, Sora tried to think of something he could say that would at least break the silence between them.

"I don't mean this against you or anything," he said, noticeably gaining her attention, "but I don't think I would want to date you. It's not that you aren't my type or anything like that; it's more like I don't think I could keep up with you if I tried. I don't excel at anything, I'm not that interesting of a person, and I'm pretty sure my personality is about as dynamic as a rock's. You're basically the exact opposite of me. I forgot to mention it earlier, but I was surprised as hell when you walked across the auditorium and were one of the few people that got the supreme honours honour roll. That must've been the reason the counselors were never hounding you to go to class."

The last comment made her laugh a bit, but Kairi had a stern look on her face for everything else that Sora had said. He hoped that she would not try to pity him by falsely reassuring that he was more interesting than he seemed or other such comments. He accepted who he was, so it made him feel uncomfortable when others tried to make him feel better about himself.

"I think you're putting me on too high of a pedestal," she said, speaking in a manner reminiscent of how she had on the pier. "The way you put it, it's almost like I'm the pinnacle of humanity, an unreachable goal that you're happy enough to even know in person."

When she put it that way, Sora almost started feeling bad about the way he had been treating her. It had never struck him that she might be offended by it, but he really _had_ been happy simply being able to talk to someone as profound as Kairi. It was almost like getting special treatment from someone superior to him, and while that had never been what he was consciously thinking about, it was impossible to deny that their friendship was not somewhat rooted in that fact.

"Sorry," he said quietly, unable to face her direction. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything."

From his peripherals, Sora could see Kairi shake her head. "I'm not offended that you think highly of me, but I don't want you to feel so…distant, I guess. We might have only known each other a short while, but I like you a lot, Sora. I wouldn't hang out with you so much if I didn't, so I don't think it's right that you're putting us on different levels."

As if he had suddenly been enlightened, Sora's eyes widened at hearing Kairi's words. Yes, he knew that Kairi was a regular person (regular in the sense that she required all the basic necessities any other person needed) and he also realized that there were things that she could and could not do, but he had always focused so much on what made her better than him that he had not stopped to think that perhaps she felt isolated because of it. Like a four-leaf clover, she was special and unique, but that also made her the only one, alone and surrounded by hundreds of others that conformed to the social norms. Though she looked like everyone else, that fourth leaf, her uniqueness, made her stand out.

"I think I get what you're saying," Sora said slowly, bringing his gaze over to her at a cautious pace. "If I ever seemed distant to you, that's my own fault, because I wasn't trying to be like that. I, um…I like you a lot, too, Kairi. I'm not quite as…expressive as you are about it, but that's probably all the more reason that I need to say it outright. You're…a really important friend to me."

Somehow, saying it out loud was more embarrassing than telling her indirectly or thinking about it was, and he couldn't help dropping his gaze to the ground. Even if it was only meant in a friendly manner, Sora had never directly told a girl that he liked her. While it wasn't a lie, of course, the only reason he had said it was simply to return the feeling back to her. However, even though he knew that, his face would not cool down, and he could only hope that it seemed as though he was feeling warm from the afternoon sun.

The sound of Kairi's light giggle from beside him caused Sora to look up and face her. Her stern look had softened into a more Kairi-like expression, and the sight of it helped to calm his quivering nerves.

"Heehee, well, if nothing else, you're very blunt, Sora. I don't think I've met anyone that can just go out and say what they're thinking the way you can, but it's not really a bad thing. I don't think you should downplay your good points so much, but at least I know you'll always tell me exactly how things are without trying to dance around the subject."

That wasn't exactly true, considering Sora often danced around things that he did not want to talk about, but it seemed best to let that slide for now. The point was that Kairi was happy, and if he could keep it that way, then Sora would do whatever it took to do so.

"We've got a whole summer ahead of us," Kairi suddenly said. It sounded as though she was merely thinking out loud until she added, "We should try to hang out as much as we can. I want to make some good memories this year, okay?"

Smiling, Sora turned his gaze from her beaming face toward the city and took a deep breath. Their lives had only just begun, and it seemed now that he could look forward to spending his days with his friends. With the near future looking bright, he took in the sight of the sun reflecting off the city's windows and the sound of the smooth saxophone playing underneath them.

"Yeah, I want to remember this summer for a long time."

* * *

Well, I hit the 6000 word mark that I was aiming for, but this chapter felt really…slow to me. Usually I get a lot done in one sitting, maybe spending a bit longer getting things going or trying to figure out how to end a chapter, but this one actually took me a handful of days to sit and get out a few hundred to thousand words before erasing and rewriting passages that I was kind of satisfied with. Eh, I wouldn't call it a slump, since I always have a few chapters in my multi-chaps that just comes out less than what I expect of myself, but it still kind of sucks when I've done all I can for it.

Anyway, it should pick up a bit in the next chapter, but I can't go into detail about what it is, only that it has something to do with Sora's job. Ponder that for the next three weeks and maybe some of you will be able to guess what it is :)

Thanks to **MasterKaze **and **dario flaman **for reviewing!

Thanks for reading and please review!

–_GengaJupite_


	7. Unexpected Happenings

Wow, it's been a long time since I wrote for this story. Sorry, guys, I don't really have an excuse for not writing other than getting distracted by stuff. I do have a bunch of days off work, though, so I'm hoping to get this posted relatively quickly.

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one

* * *

_Unexpected Happenings_

"_When you walk away, you don't hear me sa–"_

Sora smacked the off button for his radio alarm clock, groaning as he stretched his body out a bit. For whatever reason, every radio station seemed to play that song at the exact time he had to get up for work every day, so he had become somewhat of an expert at shutting it off before it got stuck in his head. After all, it _was_ a pretty catchy tune.

Slowly sitting up, the brunet yawned and rubbed his eyes. The sun was already high enough that some light streamed in through a crack in his curtains, dimly illuminating the plain bedroom. Sora had never felt the need to decorate his room much, so there really wasn't anything of interest to keep him at home often. Unlike Roxas, who had his posters, guitar, laptop, and games, Sora's room only contained the necessities: a bed, a desk, and a closet. He used to wonder if Kairi thought he was some boring dud after she stayed over, but that didn't turn out to be the case, so he had returned to his old habit of not caring that his room was boring.

Careful not to trip over the clothes he'd lazily dropped on the ground last night, Sora exited his room. The smell of bacon and omelettes cooking on the stove wafted around the room, and Sora inhaled deeply, letting out a sigh as the pleasant scent woke him up.

"'Morning," Roxas said as he flipped the omelette in the pan. "Usual fixings for you?"

"Yeah, thanks," Sora said groggily as he made his way to the bathroom. He was always glad that his brother was a chef's assistant, as it meant that Roxas did all the cooking without complaints. Of course, this also meant that he was working during regular lunch and dinner hours, but Sora had gotten used to eating at odd times of the day. It wasn't that he didn't know how to cook, but if he could have something semi-gourmet at a random time of day versus something roughly thrown together, well, the choice seemed pretty obvious.

After a quick shower, he emerged from the steamy bathroom and sat down at the table where Roxas had put his breakfast. It seemed that Roxas was in a rush to go somewhere, probably work, as his plate was already in the sink and he was currently tying his shoelaces.

"I'm not going to be home until late tonight," Roxas said as he opened the front door. "I might stop by to change after work, but I'm going out after that. Should I get anything?"

Sora thought for a moment but shook his head. "Nothing I can think of."

Shrugging at each other, Sora turned back to his food as Roxas shut the door behind him. The apartment was awfully silent whenever Sora was by himself, so he flicked on the TV for some background noise. He didn't particularly care what was on, as long as he wasn't sitting alone with nothing but the sounds of his own chewing to fill in the empty space.

It felt odd that his life had only been this way for about six months now. The daily routine of working or going to school and paying his rent had become so natural that the idea of being taken care of by adults seemed almost unfamiliar now.

Now that school was over, though, he would be relying on work to fill the time. Sora didn't typically like thinking over his life, as the lack of anything worth aspiring for tended to depress him. While he had skipped class quite often before, it was only because Riku or Roxas didn't want to go and he would simply follow along. Now that everyone was working or doing their own thing, Sora almost dreaded the idea of having days off.

Checking the time, Sora quickly finished up the rest of his food and left his plate on the counter, figuring he could wash it later. He wasn't running late or anything, but killing time at the office before actually going to his job location was better than hanging around here. Making sure to give his teeth a thorough brushing, he folded some work clothes into a bag and made his way out of the apartment, locking the door behind him.

The morning summer sun was warm on his skin, and Sora was glad that he had decided not to change until he got to the office; after all, walking around in a suit would probably just make him sweat, especially if the temperature rose throughout the day. He greeted a few of his neighbours as he passed by them in the stairwell, and soon found himself exiting the apartment building.

As he walked down the brick-paved street, Sora spotted some delinquent middle school students playing around, their backpacks grouped together on the grass. Smirking as he passed by them, he wondered if he, Riku, and Roxas had ever looked like that. It seemed unlikely, since Riku was usually too busy smoking and none of them were really the type to play wrestle with each other.

The idea that he was finished with school forever still hadn't quite hit him yet. Perhaps it never would, as he skipped a fair amount anyway, but Sora was under the impression that finishing high school would have had at least a small impact on him. Then again, it had really only been a few days since he'd received his diploma and started off the rest of his life by finding a secret place with Kairi.

"Hey, hey, look who it is: Mr. Graduate," Axel chanted as Sora stepped through the doors to the office. "And look at that, early on your first day as a working man."

"Heh, I'm pretty sure I've been a working man for a while now," Sora chuckled, setting his bag down and taking a seat on the couch.

"Maybe so, but you're not some high school punk anymore; you're just a regular working punk."

"Oh? And what does that make you, seeing as you're the boss of this working punk?"

"Ha, my slate's clean, man. Remember, all I do is assign you to places. The bosses there are all your bosses."

Sora laughed and shook his head as Axel continued his spiel about not being anyone's boss. For someone who basically ran this little temp agency, Axel wasn't exactly what Sora had pictured when he first came in for his interview; in fact, his interview had been more of a casual conversation than an actual job application.

Because he had time to kill, Sora sat around and chatted with Axel. Every now and then, one of the other temps in the agency would come in and fill out their timesheets, but other than a brief hello, none would stay more than a couple of minutes.

"Tch, see, this is why I hired you, Sora," Axel snorted as the third or fourth employee came and went out the door. "None of these other guys ever stop and talk to me. Hell, I don't remember half of their names!"

Sora laughed as Axel crossed his arms and leaned against the edge of his desk. "I think that says something more about you as the manager than them being unfriendly. Isn't it your job to make them feel comfortable?"

"Yeah, well, it's a little hard to do that when they're only here for a few minutes every week. I think I'm in the wrong business."

Judging from his slackened black tie and untucked shirt, Sora could say the same, but he thought better than to voice his agreement. He was on Axel's good side right now, so it wouldn't do any good to put himself in a bad spot over a dumb comment.

"Oh, you should probably get going," Axel said as he checked the wall clock.

Sora gave him a puzzled look, as he didn't have to start until ten o'clock and it was only about five after nine. "You think? It'll only take me about twenty minutes to walk over there."

Axel took a sip of his coffee and lightly put it back down before grabbing a piece of paper off his desk. "Yeah, I forgot to mention it, but I need you somewhere else. One of the receptionists at the Clock Tower Hotel is on maternity leave and two others are out indefinitely for personal reasons, blah, blah, blah; basically they only have one person at the front desk and they need someone to help out for most of the summer. Ideally, the manager wanted two people, but you're the only one I could spare at the moment. You can handle that, right?"

Sighing, Sora quickly started heading to the washroom, as he hadn't yet changed into his work clothes. "Wasn't there some worker's agreement I signed? Something about having twenty-four hour's notice and the right to refuse a job if I didn't feel that I could do it?"

"My bad on the time thing," Axel chuckled sheepishly. "I mean, you could always refuse this, but I'd probably lose that place's business if you skipped out on me now. Besides, you've done receptionist crap before, and that place is one of the fancier, gaudy hotels around, so you'll probably make more than usual."

Straightening his tie as he emerged from the washroom, Sora breathed deeply and gave a crooked smile to his irresponsible boss.

"You know, one of these days I'm going to cash in all these favours that you owe me," he said to the redhead. "I think this makes twenty-six?"

"What? No way, man, it's definitely only at twenty!"

"…Either way, shouldn't you be a little embarrassed that you owe one of your employees – who also happens to be the youngest and most recently-hired employee – this many favours?"

"Haha, yeah, yeah, I'm _so_ ashamed. Now, get the hell out of here before the hotel calls to complain that you're late."

Laughing and shaking his head, Sora turned and headed out the entrance, waving to Axel as he headed off to his new job site. Considering that the hotel was almost on the other side of town, he would have to run to get there on time. That didn't seem particularly ideal, as the late morning sun was much hotter and he was now wearing his working clothes. Glancing around, Sora spotted one of the tram stops across the street. As luck would have it, the tram would be there in about five minutes, and it would be able to get him to the hotel faster than running would.

Hopping onto the open-air tram, Sora relaxed on one of the wooden benches as the vehicle chugged along its track. The buildings he passed by seemed to get taller as the tram went farther into the downtown area of Twilight Town. It was a sight to behold, as he had not really paid much attention to the buildings in this part of the city. In truth, the last time he had really given much thought to these buildings was when he lived here as a child, but that was now more than ten years ago.

The sidewalks became more crowded with suit-wearing men and women bustling around. Like any metropolitan area, the streets were crowded with all sorts of people going about their day-to-day lives, whether that was running to an important meeting, grabbing a coffee with some friends, or putting on some kind of street performance for the mostly ignorant masses. Everyone had their place here, their purpose for doing what they were doing, and Sora was no exception to this system.

He tried to picture where he might be in five years, but doing so had never shown him anything before. The most he could imagine was that he would be one of those businessmen walking down the street with a briefcase in hand. Honestly he would probably be more like one of those office interns trying to balance five coffee cups on a tray meant for four as he headed back to his colleagues. It wasn't the most pleasant future, but he knew that it would be stable, and probably the best option for someone like him.

Before he knew it, the tram had arrived at the depot, and everyone else, save the conductor, had already gotten off and headed for their respective destinations. Hastily slinging his bag over his shoulder and checking the time, Sora was glad to see that he was about fifteen minutes early. From here, the Clock Tower Hotel was only about a five-minute walk.

Stepping towards the large building's entrance, Sora gazed up at the large clock atop the hotel. Considering it tolled loud enough for almost the entire city to hear, they must have set up some state-of-the-art soundproofing inside the hotel so that guests wouldn't go deaf at the sound. With that thought in mind, Sora thought it best to get inside the building before the ten o'clock tolls went off.

The lobby that greeted him was certainly of high class, and definitely worthy of the four stars it had earned. To his right, a quaint restaurant was situated that had a nice view from the windows. On the left was a sitting area with fancy, red velvety seats, where a couple of tourist families sat with their bags, either waiting for a taxi to pick them up or waiting to check in. Looking straight ahead, a few decorative pillars and plants symmetrically lined the way to the long, marble check-in desk at the end.

Unlike most hotels, the Clock Tower Hotel was rather odd in that the lobby was connected to the train station. Supposedly, it was built this way to help travelling businesspersons get to and from meeting sites with ease, but Sora just found it strange to see a sign that read 'To Train Station' pointing towards a hallway at the far side of the lobby. Thankfully for the staff and regular guests, the station also had another entrance, so the lobby typically did not get crowded with people going to and from the train.

Straightening his posture, Sora stepped quickly towards the front desk, noticing that there appeared to be only one rather flustered-looking girl rushing back and forth to take phone calls, type things into the computer, and speak to any guests that came up to her.

"Uh, hi," Sora greeted after waiting about a minute for her to get to him.

"WelcomesirhowcanIhelpyou?" she panted, her pink locks whipping back and forth as she checked to see that she had not forgotten anything.

"I'm here from the temp agency," he said, trying to hold back his laughter over how tired she looked. "You…look like you could use a hand right now."

"Oh…em…gee," she sigh-panted and sort of flopped down on the counter in relief. "I am _so_ glad you're here right now; seriously, this morning has been crazy! I don't think I've ever had to deal with so much stuff at once in my life!"

Sora laughed at her over-the-top reactions, which seemed to have a good effect on her, as she quickly hopped up with a smile more befitting of her job.

"I'm Shiki," she said, holding her hand out for him to shake, "Shiki Misaki."

"Sora Gainsborough," he replied, shaking her hand.

"Sora, nice to meet you!" Shiki said cheerfully. "Lemme just call the manager and he'll get you trained right away."

Watching as she quickly dialed a number, Sora was surprised to see a tall, suited man emerge beside him from seemingly nowhere. Jumping back in his surprise, the man let out a hearty laugh.

"Hoho, sorry about that, didn't mean to frighten you." His deep, baritone voice was warm and fatherly, though Sora could imagine just how terrifying it could be if this man ever started shouting in anger. "I am Ansem the Wise, operations manager at this hotel. Glad to have you here, Mr.…"

"Gainsborough. Sora Gainsborough."

"Yes, Mr. Gainsborough. Anyhow, I'm terribly sorry that I will have to cut this short, but I am actually on my way to a meeting right now. Shiki, I'll ask that you please train him."

"Whaaaat?! But Mr. the Wise, I'm already way backed up with all the other stuff I have to–"

"Oh, that's my cue to get going!" he said as the ten o'clock bell toll started ringing out. "Thank you, I'll be back in a few hours!"

Before Sora had the chance to really take in what had just happened, the blond man was already out the door, leaving him and Shiki with a cacophony of ringing phones.

"Ooh, that old fart!" Shiki grumbled as she opened up the short door that led behind the counter. "He always does stuff like this! He acts all professional but he runs off whenever we get really busy."

"Hehe, well, at least there aren't many people actually in the lobby right now," Sora noted, thankful that the number of people physically in this area had diminished significantly from a few minutes ago.

"Yeah, but for some reason that always means that there are three times as many phone calls," Shiki sighed before picking up one of the phones with a bright, cheery voice.

Using this time to familiarize himself with his workspace, Sora looked over the area behind the front desk. The desk was layered with two levels: a counter for guests to speak to the staff over, and a shorter counter on this side that he could use to work on top of. Four computer monitors were lined up across the shorter desk, angled upwards so that he could see them easily while standing. Judging from all the open emails and lists and sticky notes sprawled across the desk, Sora wasn't surprised that Shiki had been so flustered. In fact, as he looked over to her, she was currently holding the phone on her shoulder while she simultaneously typed something into the computer and wrote something down on a sticky note. How she managed to uphold her happy persona on the phone with all that going on was nothing short of incredible.

"Looks like Shiki's in for a rough day," a voice chuckled from behind him. "You better go easy on her, Sora."

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Sora froze up as a shiver ran up and down his spine. Slowly turning around, the person he found himself faced with was probably one of the last people he expected to see.

"K-Kairi?!"

The redhead grinned while she leaned in the backroom's doorway, winking as she giggled at his reaction. Too dumbfounded to say anything, he simply stared at her in disbelief.

It seemed that uniforms at the hotel were only limited to bellhops and cleaning staff, as Kairi and Shiki were not wearing the same things. While Shiki had on a navy blue work dress with a large belt around her waist, Kairi had on a black knee-length pencil skirt and a white dress shirt. Seemingly for style, she also had a black waistcoat on, and Sora couldn't help but notice that it buttoned up only to the top of her abdomen, with the top part cupping her breasts rather than covering over top of them.

"Heehee, no need to gawk, Sora," she giggled as his face began to heat up. "I mean, you got to see me in my prom dress, so this shouldn't be all that special."

"I-I wasn't g-gawking!" he stammered and blinked a couple of times. "More importantly, you work here? You didn't seem too surprised to see me."

Standing up straight, Kairi stepped closer toward him. "Yeah, this is the job I was telling you about. It's only my third day, though, so I'm kind of in the same boat as you. As for why I wasn't surprised, well, my brother said that he'd be sending someone from my school to come help us out. You said you were a temp, so I just kind of put the pieces together and hoped that he was talking about you."

"Wait…" Sora paused, trying to figure out if he'd heard Kairi correctly. "When you say brother, you wouldn't happen to be referring to…"

"Axel? Yep, he's my dumb, entrepreneur older brother that runs a temp agency. Did the idea that your slob of a redheaded boss, whose last name also happens to be Lea, might possibly be related to me never cross your mind?"

"No, not really… You could have mentioned it to me."

"Mm, I could have, but there would be no fun in that. Besides, it's not like you really get anything out of knowing the two of us are siblings."

"I guess not; though, now that I know, it sort of makes sense why neither of you have the personality of a regular human being."

Earning a light punch in the shoulder, Sora chuckled while Kairi stuck her tongue out at him. "Anyway," she said, circling around to the other side of the counter, "I should probably get to work. Supposedly, this is one of the busier times when people start needing my expertise."

Sora watched as the redhead happily sauntered over to a smaller counter in an alcove across the lobby. Seeing the sign at that desk that read 'Concierge,' he immediately understood what her last statement had meant; it also seemed to be accurate, as a small group of people emerged from the elevator and went to speak to her almost as soon as she had sat down.

Since Shiki was still on the phone and he had nothing better to do, Sora glanced at one of the open emails that Shiki had been dealing with before. It seemed rather generic, and there wasn't anything of much interest on any of the other screens either. He sighed, hoping that his coworker would be finished on the phone soon, as he felt rather useless standing around like this.

Just as his boredom was about to set in completely, a small window suddenly popped up on the screen in front of him. Curious as to what it was, Sora leaned forward and smirked as he saw what it was.

_Concierge Desk: Hey! Stop looking so bored while you're at work! Haha, by the way, this is the only way we can talk here since our desks are so far away._

Glancing up, he could see that Kairi was still discussing something with the people in front of her. Since they couldn't see her screen, it would be easy enough for her to type messages to him while making it seem like she was doing work. Leave it to Kairi to find a clever way to slack off. Hoping that it would be all right, Sora slowly typed out a message to respond, making sure that there weren't any people approaching the counter.

_Reception 2: If you can message me while you're in the middle of helping people, I think I'm allowed to look bored when no one's around. Anyway, thanks for the heads up. I guess this can be one of those summer memories you wanted to have._

No more than a few seconds after he'd hit send, Kairi's response was received.

_Concierge Desk: Yep! I wrote it down on a sticky note! By the end of the summer I want toDowntown Bus Tours  
__Concierge Desk: Crap, sorry, I meant to type that into my search engine… By the end of the summer I want to have this desk space covered in sticky notes, so you'd better do a lot of cool or funny things while we're working together!_

Chuckling breathily, Sora started typing in his response, but another chat window suddenly popped up in front of him.

_Reception 1: Sorry, I'll be done in a sec, 'kay? This person is asking me, like, a billion questions…_

Glancing over to his side, Sora noticed Shiki giving him an apologetic smile as she continued talking on the phone. Simply shrugging and nodding to her, he turned back to his screen.

After Shiki was done on the phone, Sora started his training right away. Thanks to all his previous work in offices and such, most of what he had to do here was fairly simple and he was quick to pick up on it. By the time the manager had returned from his meeting, Sora had already helped a handful of people out and even taken some of the phone calls when Shiki was already in the midst of one. All the while, he and Kairi had been messaging back and forth, talking about random things like usual while they went about their respective jobs. Though he wasn't as fast at typing as Kairi was, Sora found that as long as he got his work done, it shouldn't be a problem if he chatted with his coworkers.

As the workday slowly drew to a close, Kairi rang the front desk bell to get Sora's attention.

"Hey, got any plans after this?" the redhead asked in a lively manner.

"Not really," Sora said flatly. "Heh, shouldn't you stay over at your desk until your shift is up, though? You'll probably get in trouble if the boss catches you slacking off for real."

Kairi just smirked and shrugged her shoulders as she glanced over at the empty desk. "Our shifts end in, like, five minutes, so it should be fine. Besides, the nighttime guys just got here, so I'm gonna get changed. You should too; there's someplace I want to show you."

As he watched Kairi go into the backroom to get changed, he noticed Shiki giving him a mischievous smirk from the corner of his eye. Turning towards her, he could only guess what the girl might say.

"Well, look at you, getting all flirty with Kairi," she teased. "Haven't you ever heard that workplace relationships can be unhealthy?"

Coughing inconspicuously, Sora scratched his spikes in a sheepish manner. "Yeah, but it's fine since Kairi and I aren't together or anything. It was just kind of cool that we both ended up working at the same place is all."

"Oh, but I heard that your boss is her brother. Are you sure you didn't pull any strings to land this spot?"

"I just found out this morning that they're siblings…"

Shiki just laughed as Sora did what he could to deflect her questions. In a way, she was pretty similar to Kairi, and the thought of having to deal with two Kairis, especially at the workplace, was a bit mindboggling.

"Hey, is this the new guy?" a rather cynical-looking guy with large headphones asked Shiki from across the counter.

"He sure is!" she twittered, opening up the door to let the guy behind the counter. "Sora, this is Neku, the nighttime receptionist and my boyfriend." So much for workplace relationships being unhealthy.

"Geez, you don't have to go spouting that out to everybody," Neku complained, though he didn't seem to put off by the comment. "Sora, right? Looks like the two of us have a lot in common. If you've got any advice for me, don't hesitate to share it."

A dry chuckle escaped Sora's lips, and he did not bother to point out that he and Kairi weren't together. After all, regardless of their differing relationship statuses, Sora could see that Neku was almost like a mirror image of himself, all the way from the overly bubbly female companion to his hairstyle.

After getting himself changed, Sora met up with Kairi in the lobby and followed her to the elevator. When they got on, she swiped her employee card in front of some kind of scanner and pushed the button beside it. Noticing the floor indicator continuously going up, Sora began wondering when it would finally stop ascending. It felt like a while before the indicator stopped on a floor labeled 'R' instead of whatever the next highest number was.

The doors opened to reveal a beautiful sunset over the horizon. Following Kairi out of the elevator, he realized that he was on the roof, though not the highest point from the look of it. A walkway outlined the perimeter of the tower, with a wider area to relax in located at the front of the building. Peeking down over the edge, he gazed in awe at how high up they were. The clock was actually beneath them, and from this height he could really see all of Twilight Town, unlike the spot above the jazz bar.

"So, what do you think?" Kairi asked excitedly.

"I think…" Sora pondered as he thought of the right words to say, "you have a strange obsession with roofs."

Not expecting that answer, Kairi cocked her head back, but was quick to readopt her regular expression. "Hey, what is that supposed to mean? Explain yourself, heathen!" Was that a quote from something? It didn't matter; Kairi was the one saying it.

"Well, think about it," Sora began, taking a seat against the wall. "The first place I found you at school was on the roof by the air ducts, then that secret place you showed me was on the roof of the jazz bar, and now you're showing me this. I mean, I don't mind, but it makes me wonder how many of those other twelve secret spots you have are on roofs…"

Kairi fidgeted back and forth for a moment before responding to him. "Hmph, there are only two others on roofs, and it has nothing to do with being high up. I just like places with nice views."

"Heh, easy now, no need to get worked up. I'm only teasing."

Sora watched as Kairi came and leaned on the wall next to where he was sitting. She seemed captivated by the view, sighing as a gentle breeze ruffled her hair. Sora blushed a bit, averting his gaze when he realized he had been staring at her. Luckily, she didn't seem to have noticed, but he felt stupid for even being so obvious about his ogling.

"So," Sora said after the silence began making him uncomfortable, "do you really not get along with Axel?"

Kairi glanced down at him and twisted her mouth to the side. "Not especially. I mean, we don't hate each other or anything; I guess we're usually just indifferent about each other. Why?"

"Oh, no reason. I just thought it was a little weird that two easygoing people could have problems with each other. You _did_ fight enough to run away, after all."

Smirking and plopping down on the ground beside him, Kairi nudged him in the side. "Sorry that my relationship with my brother isn't as wonderful as yours and Roxas's. Anyway, maybe I can get along with him better by telling him all about the nasty little quirks you have."

"Really? I'd like to know what some of these quirks are, myself. Besides, I'm kind of what you might call his favourite employee, so I doubt he'll start disliking me or anything."

"Heehee, we'll see."

As was usual of their conversations, this one continued quickly went off onto other tangents, changing into different topics as they got sidetracked from whatever they had initially been talking about. While this used to seem like total randomness, Sora had gotten used to the way Kairi connected little pieces of whatever they had been talking about to bridge the gap onto another topic of discussion. He liked the way she always knew how to keep a conversation fresh, changing the topic whenever one began to feel even the slightest bit dry.

"Hey, I know it's a bit late to ask this," Sora said, changing whatever their topic had previously been. "How did you end up with this job? It doesn't really seem like something people our age would get hired to do."

Kairi shrugged as she provided him with a rather simple answer. "The manager is Naminé's dad, and he said he was looking for a concierge. Since I know a bunch about this city, I figured I'd ask him for the job and he hired me."

"Huh, considering he's her dad, I'm surprised Naminé doesn't work here," Sora mused. "Either way, I guess it's nice to have some connections."

"You talk about it like you don't have any."

"Not unless I want to become a cop or some kind of fitness instructor. Heh, maybe you didn't notice, but I don't really have the physique for either of those."

Kairi chuckled lightly, but her expression seemed to take on a more serious look. "Um, I guess that means you don't have any connections through your parents' work, then."

Sora frowned and turned away from her, a small crease forming between his eyebrows. "No, not really," he answered breathily. "I mean, they weren't exactly big shots at work, so I'd be more surprised if there was still some kind of connection after ten years at either of their jobs."

"I see," Kairi responded quietly. "Sorry, I was just a little curious. I know it's insensitive to bring them up around you."

Sora was quick to wave off her apology, however, shrugging as he turned to look at her again. "It's fine. At this point, Roxas and I have been living longer without them around than with them. People always apologize whenever our parents get brought up in conversation, but we've both accepted that this is how our lives are now."

Unsurprisingly, the redhead still seemed to be feeling guilty about bringing it up. Watching as she brought her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them, Sora sighed and made her an offer to help make her stop feeling at fault.

"I don't mind telling you about them," he suggested. "I don't really know what to say, though. We used to live somewhere in the heart of downtown before it was all skyscrapers and office buildings like it is now. My mom was a florist and my dad was some kind of government military-related guy – I didn't know his actual job since I was only a kid when he was still around."

For the next few minutes, Sora continued to talk about the few memories he had from when he was old enough to actually remember things to when he was eight. Despite wearing the same guilt-ridden expression as he spoke, Kairi seemed to lighten up as Sora said more and more. He could see that he had at least piqued her interest, and for once he felt as though he was actually taking the initiative of creating and holding a conversation, as opposed to how he would usually work off of whatever Kairi was talking about.

"Cloud had always been a police officer, so he heard about the car crash about an hour after it happened," Sora said as he recalled the accident. "My memory is a bit hazy, but I remember how thankful he had been to find out that Roxas and I were at daycare instead of in the car with them. After that, everything was kind of a blur, and suddenly we were living with them out in the suburbs."

Kairi, now with the side of her head resting on her knees instead of her chin, had a somewhat unreadable expression on her face. She did not seem particularly saddened by his story, which was good because his intention had been to explain things to her without making her feel depressed, but it was hard to tell if she was thinking hard or wasn't thinking at all.

"So, because of all the trauma you went through as a child," she spoke slowly, raising her head from her knees, "you turned into the class-cutting, after-hours-street-wandering delinquent that you are today."

He was surprised to hear her tone shift to a more playful one, and saw that she was smirking prettily towards him. Grinning back, he lightly elbowed her in the side as a response.

"Hey, things could've turned out a lot worse, you know," he responded. "Besides, thanks to my nighttime wandering and class-cutting, I got to meet you. I'd say that things turned out all right, wouldn't you?"

She didn't say anything, prompting Sora to question what she might be thinking. Unsure of what to do or say, he could only stare back at her, watching as she blinked once, then twice. Her indigo irises almost seemed to be saying something to him, but Sora had never really been great at reading people.

In the next moment, he was hit with the familiar feeling of Kairi's lips squishing against his own. Though he was still surprised by the action, especially since she had not done it in a while, he did not tense up or scramble the way he used to; rather, he accepted the kiss full on. Of course, he was still too afraid to even think of returning it, and the heavy pounding of his heart still indicated his inexperience at this sort of thing.

Staring at Kairi as she pulled away and hopped up to her feet, she held out her hand to help him up.

"D-Didn't you say those were going to stop?" he stammered as he took her hand.

"Heehee, I don't remember promising that," she teased. "Besides, even if I did, it's kind of a bad habit at this point. You're just gonna have to get used to it!"

Watching her jog ahead towards the elevator, Sora scratched his head and smiled.

"Get used to it… I think I can do that."

* * *

It's kind of funny how it takes me a week and a half to write a chapter this length for both of my other stories, but this only takes me about two or three days. Not to say I dislike the other ones I'm writing or anything, but this one seems to just come out the most naturally.

Anyway, I sort of glazed over what happened to Sora's parents in the past because I didn't think it would make sense for him to go super in-depth in his current circumstances. It should be pretty straightforward: his parents (Zack and Aerith) were involved in a fatal car accident ten years ago, Sora and Roxas were at daycare at the time and weren't involved in the crash, Cloud took custody of them as their legal guardian. The main idea was that it wasn't supposed to be some overly tragic and scarring event, as doing so would make Sora and Roxas into dark, traumatized people, which they aren't in this story.

Thanks to **Deathgod19, hideki411, **and **Ken7700** for reviewing!

Thanks for reading and please review!

–_GengaJupite_


	8. Cream Soda

Ahahaha… So I looked at the date for when the last update for this was and it was over a month ago… To be fair, I've been working a lot and trying to keep busy with other stuff lately (unlike last update when I was just lazing about after work). Eh, I'll probably have more time to write once school starts up, as I have a Tuesdays and Fridays off and quite a bit of time between classes on my other days. Hopefully I'll have chapter nine out before then, but for now all we can do is cross our fingers!

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one

* * *

_Cream Soda_

"_Temperatures are high as we enter our third day of the heat wave, so remember to slap on some sunscreen and drink lots of water if you plan on going outside today, folks! Now, continuing with our Beat the Heat contest…"_

Sora tuned out the rest of the radio announcements as a bead of sweat conspicuously rolled down the side of his face. After working for the past eight days in a row with plenty of overtime hours, things had finally wound down enough at the hotel for Mr. the Wise to give him a day off. Any regular person would have been thrilled to finally get time off of work after having so much of it, but Sora could only say that he was slightly thankful.

Considering it was a weekday, most of the brunet's friends were working, leaving him with a whole day to kill. The typical solution would be to wander about Twilight Town, but the sweltering heat made it too tiresome to do so. With nothing of interest at home and his favourite pastime a no-go, Sora could only think of one option: lounging around at the secret place. Figuring that it would be better than staying in his dreary apartment, he had quickly grabbed some water and a small radio and left.

Currently lying back on a reclinable deck chair, the brunet powered the radio off as a song he disliked started playing. Despite being away from people, the smell of sweat and sunscreen wafted around on the hot air. Rooftops of distant buildings appeared to wobble as the heat distorted their surfaces. Every so often, a fly would buzz around and Sora would mindlessly swat it away like a horse on a hot day.

The shirt he had previously been wearing was now being used as a pillow, and the teen kept his eyes shut as the sun beamed down on him. Of course, it was much too hot for him to actually fall asleep in such weather – comfortably, that is – but the warmth was relaxing, if nothing else, and with the radio off he could now hear the piano and standup bass that were practicing in the bar below him. A few minutes later, a female vocalist joined in with their grooving, softly scatting along in a cool, sensual tone. It didn't take long for Sora to unconsciously begin nodding his head to the beat of their cool jam.

A buzzing sound from beside him interrupted the flow of music. Eyes still shut, Sora dangled his hand off the side of the deck chair and aimlessly patted the ground until his fingers made contact with the smooth, rectangular surface of his cell phone. Bringing it above his face, the brunet used his free hand to block the direct sunlight so that he would be able to read the message he'd received.

_1 new message from: Kairi Lea  
__Ugh, I am sooo freaking bored here! It's my lunch break now but maybe Mr. the Wise will give me the rest of the day off if I ask him._

A sardonic smile crept along Sora's lips as he slowly thumbed his way around the onscreen keypad. He knew quite well that it had been pretty dead at the hotel for the past couple of days, but Kairi had never complained about her boredom until today. Then again, she had spent most of her time talking to him through the internal IM system, so perhaps that was how she'd been entertaining herself. She could always talk to Shiki, but it seemed as though the pink-haired receptionist was always keeping busy with something or other.

'_Maybe, but then what are you gonna do if he says yes?' _Sora responded. Moments later, Kairi's response made his phone vibrate.

'_Hmm… I'll figure something out. What are you up to? Wandering around again?'_

'_Heh, you kidding? It's way too hot out to walk around. I'm relaxing at our secret place.'_

'_What?! Hey, you aren't allowed to go there without me! Ooh, when I get the go-ahead to leave, you are so in for it, Sora!'_

Knowing Kairi, the retribution she was talking about could range anywhere from a solid punch to the solar plexus to a heart-stopping kiss without warning. Though one was clearly more preferable than the other, Sora wasn't particularly partial to either, mainly because he would rather not have to deal with whatever scheme Kairi would come up with. He wasn't too worried, however, as it seemed unlikely that she would be allowed to leave early. The only reason he had gotten the day off was because Shiki was there to cover the front desk; Kairi didn't have anyone to dump her workload onto.

Placing his phone back on the ground, Sora took a deep breath of humid air and flipped over so that he was lying on his front. After a moment or two he found himself getting lost in the smooth flow of the performers below once again. Despite the heat, it was actually draining some of his energy, and mixed with the soothing music Sora nods became less and less in time until he finally nodded off completely.

キングダムハーツキングダムハーツキングダムハーツ

A sharp, cold sensation suddenly washed over Sora's bare back, causing him to yelp in surprise. He must have dozed off at some point, as the unexpected coldness clearly woke him. Quick to flip over, he looked up to see none other than a grinning redhead with a now-empty bucket of ice in her hands. As he was still trying to recuperate from the icy attack, Sora couldn't come up with the right words to say to Kairi, allowing her to make the first move.

"Heehee, you looked a little warm there, so I thought I would cool you down," she cackled. There was no way she could have known he would be asleep, so what would she have done with that bucket if he weren't so vulnerable? Sora dreaded the idea of being chased around on the roof as she tried to toss it at him.

"Haha, very funny," he said sarcastically. "I can't believe you went to the effort of carrying a full bucket of ice up the ladder just so you could dump it on me. You aren't actually mad that I came here without you, are you?"

The raised eyebrow and curled lip implied that she was actually a little peeved, but she shook her head moments after and tossed the bucket a short distance away.

"Nah, I just felt like pranking you was all. Pretty good, huh?"

"Most pranksters wouldn't ask their victims if they thought the prank was any good… Besides, pouring a bucket of ice on me on a hot day isn't exactly what I'd call a prank, not a good one anyway."

"Oh, don't be such a sourpuss. You're just upset because you were helplessly snoozing away and couldn't stop me."

Sora grumbled something under his breath, which made Kairi giggle. The mischievous air about her dissipated as she softened her expression and averted her eyes from him.

"If anything, it made me really happy that you chose to come here instead of someplace else," she said, the slightest blush creeping onto her cheeks.

"Happy?"

Kairi brushed some ice cubes off the edge of the deck chair and sat beside Sora's legs. "Yeah, I mean, we agreed that this would be our secret spot but I wasn't sure that that would mean anything to you. The fact that you actually chose to come here must mean that it has some kind of significance, right?"

Sora shrugged. "I guess."

In all honesty, his main reasoning for coming here was because there was nothing to do at home and he didn't exactly want to loiter around a crowded place like the beach or a park.

A loud, bell-like sound rang out from the hotel in the distance, letting out six clear tolls across the city. The brunet was surprised that it had gotten so late; he must have fallen asleep for much longer than he thought. Had he made the assumption that Kairi hadn't gotten off early, it would have been easy to guess that it was after five o'clock, but due to the time of year, the sun was still relatively high in the sky.

His stomach made an audible growl, reminding him that he hadn't eaten anything since he left the house earlier. Kairi giggled as he sheepishly scratched the top of his head. Standing and extending her hand to help him up, the redhead nodded her head towards the ladder.

"Do you want to get something to eat? I know a place really close by that has decent food."

"Lead the way," he responded indifferently.

Quickly pulling on his shirt and grabbing his things, Sora followed Kairi down the ladder and, much to his surprise, was led into the building they had just been on top of: _Jazz Corner X._

The three performers that Sora had been dozing off to earlier were gone now, replaced by a drummer, saxophone player, and electric bass guitarist. As they set up their equipment, the few customers in the room glanced over to the two teenagers entering the bar. Sora could feel the odd glances, but was relieved when they quickly went back to whatever they had been doing or talking about before.

"Hey, are you sure we can be in here?" Sora muttered to Kairi. "We're still minors."

"Oh, relax," she brushed off his concern and headed towards the bar. "Don't you remember; the owner is Axel's good friend. Besides, it's not like I was planning on drinking."

Whether they had planned on drinking or not wasn't really the issue, but Sora figured that there would be no point in arguing further now, considering they were now standing at the bar counter. The bartender noticed them and quickly finished serving drinks to some others at the other end of the counter before walking over towards the two teens.

"Well, well, it's been a while, Kairi," the bearded man greeted in a suave tone, adjusting his bowtie as he did so.

"Hey, Luxord," she said plainly. "Is Demyx around?"

"He is, indeed. I'll go grab him for you; I'd rather skip the formalities with your boyfriend, anyway."

Making his way around the corner and through an employees-only door, Luxord disappeared before Sora could determine whether that comment had been rude, shy, or impatient. Turning from where the bartender had exited to face Kairi, she simply gave him a semi-apologetic smile and hopped up onto a barstool.

"He's not a bad guy, just a little too anal about making the most of his time."

Sora glanced around the uncrowded bar and smirked wryly. "It doesn't really seem like he's pressed for time."

"Heehee, I guess not, but that's just the way he is. All the people that work here are a little quirky in their own ways."

"I suppose that means you've known all of them for a while?"

"Yeah, since this place opened up five or six years ago. Demyx, the owner here, and Axel both started their businesses up at the same time, sort of as a competition to see who could be more successful. It's funny, though, once you meet Demyx, you'll totally think that he and Axel would have opened up the other's business, or at least that they would try trading jobs."

Sora chuckled, knowing that Axel really wasn't much of a fit for his job and easily being able to imagine the relaxed redhead running a cool place like this.

Luxord returned with another man a few moments later. Sora restrained his bewilderment at seeing the young, mullet-headed man with an untucked, wrinkled dress shirt and slackened tie. Was this guy really the owner? Honestly, he looked a lot more like a college frat boy than someone who ran a functional business.

"Demy!" Kairi happily greeted him.

"Hehe, hey, Kairi," he replied with a nasally, awkward voice. "Could you maybe not call me that here? It's a little embarrassing."

"Aw, but it's not like Luxord's never heard me call you that before."

"Yeah, but there are other customers around…and if Xigbar hears you from the kitchen, then he'll bug me about it for the next week…"

Already, Sora could see what Kairi meant when she said that Demyx and Axel should trade jobs. This guy didn't seem all that personable, whereas Axel craved the human interaction that his employees, excluding Sora, failed to give him. The thought of having Demyx as his boss, however, made Sora chuckle under his breath.

"Oh, hey, guy, you here with Kairi?" Demyx turned to Sora and gave a crooked smile. "I'm Demyx, the owner… I'm guessing you already knew that, though…"

"Heh, sort of," Sora said and shook his hand. "I'm Sora. I actually work for Axel, except I don't think he's ever mentioned you before."

Demyx twisted his face in thought for a second before he came to some sort of realization. "Sora, huh? Yeah, I've heard that name before. Axel's favourite employee."

Sora chuckled sheepishly and scratched his spikes. Sad as it was to admit, that was probably one of the few ways people would be able to identify him specifically.

"Anyway, you guys are getting food, right? Nachos, spinach rolls, poutine, you know the menu, Kairi."

"You're okay with nachos?" the redhead asked as she turned to Sora.

"Yeah, sure."

With that, Demyx wrote it down on a little slip of paper and disappeared through the kitchen doors.

The trio of musicians started up soon after, sonically relaxing the atmosphere of the bar even further. While Kairi began chatting away with Luxord across the counter, Sora peered around her so he could watch them perform. From inside the building, the sound was obviously much better, and the slow melody of the saxophone almost seemed to sweep him along with it. Perhaps it was his imagination, but he could have sworn that the lights were dimming gradually.

Subconsciously, he had tuned out the sounds of light chatter and clinking glasses around him, only hearing the sound of the music. Whether it was the general mood of the room or simply because he felt like looking, Sora found his gaze shifting from the musicians to the redhead he had been peering behind. She didn't seem to notice his watchful eyes, laughing at something Luxord had said and brushing her bangs to the side. Her eyes sparkled like diamonds in the dimmed light and her smile made his insides stir.

Something about her seemed so…_tantalizing_.

Before his eyes, she had transformed from a prankster that threw ice all over his back into some kind of wonder that prodded at his inexperienced emotions. Seeing her like this brought him back to the time they had fallen in front of his apartment building. He wanted to look away and shake away these thoughts, but at the same time he didn't want to. He couldn't help but watch the way her eyes changed to match her tone of voice, or the way her cheeks formed dimples every time she giggled, or the way her lips curved in the most inviting yet unexaggerated fashion.

Yes, those lips that he'd felt so many times against his own, those lips that sought him at any time when he might be unsuspecting, those lips that so gratefully pressed against his cheek after he'd accompanied her after prom. What was this feeling that stirred within his chest? He couldn't possibly want any more from Kairi, could he? Sure, they had kissed, but it was clear that those spontaneous smooches were nothing more than pranks, no different than if she had dumped ice on him every time. To have such feelings for her…it just wasn't possible…

Sora was broken from his trance as the sound of light applause replaced the music that had been playing. Cautiously flicking his eyes around his immediate surroundings, he sighed in relief that no one had caught him staring at Kairi.

"All right, here you guys go," Demyx said as he returned with a large platter of cheese-covered chips and dips. "And these," he added, grabbing a couple of clear drinks from behind the counter, "are on me. Non-alcoholic drinks are cheap, so if you want anything else, just get Luxord to put it on me."

For a moment, Demyx almost seemed like a cool and competent boss, but watching him slip and shatter a few glasses on the ground as he made his exit killed any chance of Sora seeing him as anything but Axel's klutzy friend that looked like a frat boy.

"Oh, yum! Now that I can smell these I'm suddenly starving!" Kairi said and quickly dug into the food in a rather unladylike manner.

Chuckling, Sora reached for an extra cheesy chip and happily crunched on it, glad to begin satisfying his growling stomach. Since it was bar food, the brunet found it to be a little saltier than he preferred, so it only took a few bites before he needed to quench his thirst. As he took a sip from the lemon-lime soda in his glass, Sora noticed something written on the napkin his drink had been on. Pulling it out from underneath, he raised an eyebrow at what was written.

_Good luck, buddy ;) –Demyx_

"Luxord! Can I get another drink?" Kairi called over to the unoccupied bartender. The man raised an eyebrow, but simply shrugged and began filling her glass with a nozzle built into the counter.

"You went through that fast," Sora said amusedly and reached for another nacho.

"Heehee, well, the food's a little salty and it's kind of embarrassing but Demy knows I have a pretty bad sweet tooth for cream soda. I used to drink it all the time as a kid, so he always makes sure to keep some here for me."

"Huh, well, I can't say I'm surprised, seeing as you always seem like you're on a sugar high."

With a giggle, Kairi lightly smacked Sora on the arm and practically inhaled her second drink, prompting Luxord to get her a third. She really wasn't kidding when she said she liked cream soda. Sora wasn't really partial to it, as the sweetness had always been a little overwhelming for his tastes.

As they continued eating and chatting, with Kairi downing her drinks like a dehydrated vacuum cleaner, Sora couldn't help noticing the frequent smirks Luxord was sending their way. He tried to ignore it, but it wasn't quite so easy when Kairi was ordering drinks from him every two or three minutes. The fact that they'd finished eating their food a while ago really showed that her love for the vanilla-flavoured soft drink was more like an obsession.

"Hey, Kairi, are you feeling okay?" Sora asked as she swayed to the side a bit. "Maybe it's just the lighting, but you look a little red."

"Huh? No, no, I'm feeling great!" she giggled. "Oh, actually, I've gotta pee. Stay here, okay?"

"Uh, sure."

As she hopped off her chair, the redhead wobbled a bit and grabbed onto Sora's shoulder for support. After she'd steadied her footing, she giggled again and playfully ran her hand over his face before making her way down a hall leading to the bathrooms. Once she was out of sight, Sora turned back around, only to come face to face with the bearded bartender.

"Whoa, geez!" he cried, hopping on his stool and managing to stay balanced. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Eheh, my apologies. Sora was it?" Sora nodded. "It seems like Ms. Lea has taken quite a liking to you. You'd better watch yourself; she's a rather feisty girl, especially when she can't control herself."

Looking at the note on his napkin and thinking about Kairi's lack of balance (which was already bad enough), it didn't take long for Sora to put the pieces together. Now that he thought about it, Luxord's constant smirks and Kairi's increased giggling should have been enough for him to figure out what was going on.

"Aren't you guys worried about getting caught serving alcohol to a minor? Besides, how wouldn't she have tasted it in her drink?"

Luxord laughed and leaned against the counter. "Well, that's where all the fun is. You see, I made a little wager with our proprietor friend that I could make a strong drink and she wouldn't even realize – not until she was well beyond sobriety, that is. Lucky for me, we keep a nice stockpile of cream soda here for her, and nothing blocks the taste of alcohol like an overly sweet flavour."

Demyx hadn't really seemed like the type to bet on something like that, but then he was under the impression that Kairi would have noticed right away. Then again, he wouldn't have written that note if he thought Kairi would notice. In that case, it seemed like the point was just to get her drunk, or rather, it was to create some kind of situation for him.

"If you don't believe that she didn't notice, go ahead and take a sip," the bartender deviously slid her drink towards him.

Sora was already hesitant to drink it due to the fact that it was cream soda, but the idea that there was, what Luxord called, a strong amount of alcohol in there made him even less inclined. Then there was the added fact that Kairi's lips had been on the straw already, but she had already kissed him directly enough times to stop that from mattering too much.

With only a skeptical look to Luxord, the teen slowly moved his face towards the straw and took a sip of the sickeningly sweet drink. Surprised as he was, there was no hint of bitterness, nor any sort of burning sensation in his throat.

"Heh, understand now?" Luxord chuckled. "_Your_ drink really is just a virgin lemon-lime soda, but even after drinking that you would never be able to guess that this one is…how should I put it…a little more _well-traveled_."

Sora didn't really have anything to say. It wasn't like they were trying to hurt Kairi by playing their dumb prank, and she certainly didn't seem upset, for now at least. The only thing he could do was try to get her to drink some water so that she wouldn't have a killer hangover tomorrow. She still had to work, after all.

"Whoo, sorry that took so long," Kairi said when she returned, leaning against Sora and reaching around him to drink her umpteenth beverage. "I had a lot of pee."

"That's great, Kairi," he sighed. "Maybe you should slow down on the cream sodas though. You're going to dehydrate yourself."

"Whaaat? No way!" she said, reaching for the refill that Luxord placed on the counter. "Besides, if I get thirsty, then I can just drink more of these! Demyx did say he'd pay for them, remember?"

Luxord actually laughed out loud upon hearing that, leaving Sora with even more of a predicament. He managed to get Kairi to sit on her stool again, but in her current state, she had to lean against the counter for support. Considering how many of those stupid drinks she'd had, it was a wonder that she was still conscious.

"Mmhey, Sora. Don't you love this band? They're playing some super-duper awesome music right now!" Kairi could hardly stop her head from lolling around dopily as she slurred each word.

"Uh, can't say I know enough of their stuff," Sora chuckled against his better judgment, seeing as the three performers were not an officially formed band and they were currently re-tuning their instruments, not playing. "Hey, Luxord, can we get some water over here."

"Sure thing, but I can't force her to drink it if she doesn't want to," he said, filling some glasses from a different nozzle.

"Aw, yuck!" Kairi spat as she drank the water she'd mistakenly thought was another cream soda. "This is gross, can I put sugar in it or something?"

"…Uh, I suppose you could, as long as you drink all of it…" Sora passed her a sugar pack, which she quickly dumped into her water and happily drank down. "That's kind of gross…I think I'd rather we just headed out than let you drink any more of that."

"You wanna leave arready?" she slurred, exaggerating her disappointment to maximum.

"We can do some cool stuff on the way home."

"…Fiiiine." Hopping off the barstool and leaning heavily on the counter, Kairi smiled to the bartender. "See ya later, Luxord. Oh, and can you put those nachos on Demy's tab, too?"

"Heh, I'd be happy to. Take care, sweetheart. Have a good night, kid."

With Kairi now clinging onto his right arm for balance, Sora slowly walked her towards the entrance of _Jazz Corner X_ and exited the building.

The skies outside were a rich orange colour and the heat from earlier still clung to the brick-lined streets. Sora struggled to ignore the temperature, trying only to focus on getting Kairi home, though thinking about that only made him realize just how much body heat she was emitting beside him.

As the two slowly stumbled along the alleys toward the main roads, Kairi's footsteps seemed to drag more and more, with her weight increasing as they continued. Before long, Sora realized that she was barely still conscious, seemingly only having enough control of her body to keep clinging to his arm and moving her feet as they progressed. Realizing that continuing like this could take them hours, Sora sighed and heaved her onto his back, feeling an odd sense of déjà vu from when they first met.

After about twenty minutes or so, he finally managed to emerge onto the main street, though he was now covered in sweat. Hopefully Kairi wouldn't be upset that she was covered in his sweat, but in all fairness, he couldn't be sure whether the perspiration on his back was his or hers. Regardless, the thought was pretty gross, so he pushed the thought from his mind and continued forward, earning a variety of confused and teasing looks from passersby.

Getting closer to the high school, it occurred to Sora that he didn't have a clue where Kairi lived. Sure, he knew the general location from the time she knocked him over but that wasn't going to help him find the specific house. Actually, now that he thought about it, she had been running away from home that night, so there was no guarantee that that was even the neighbourhood she lived in. Even if he knew where it was, it also wouldn't be such a great idea to bring her back to Axel in a drunken heap, lest he risk some kind of repercussions from his boss.

Letting out a deep sigh, Sora readjusted the redhead on his back and started for the only place he could: his apartment. This was way too much déjà vu for one day…

Rounding a bend onto the street that led to his building, he could hear Kairi mumbling something incomprehensible. It was probably just drunken sleeptalking, so he didn't think much of it. A few more mumbles passed her lips, and he could feel her grip around him tighten, her face nuzzling into the nape of his neck. A chill ran down his spine, and Sora wondered what she could possibly be mumbling about. Was she dreaming? Maybe she was semi-conscious. Whatever it was, it only made him want to get home sooner.

By the time he reached the apartment, got the door unlocked, and managed to maneuver his way to his bedroom, Sora somewhat carelessly dropped Kairi onto his bed and followed suit out of pure exhaustion. His clothes were drenched in sweat, and the fan was doing little more than blowing hot air around in circles. Too tired to even have a sense of shame, he peeled his shirt off, wiped off some of the sweat from his body, and tossed the damp top into his laundry basket.

He was too tired to even move, the heat making him feel even drowsier than usual. Regardless of the fact that Kairi was right there beside him, he felt as though he might die if he tried to move to the couch right now. If Roxas got home from work and saw him collapsed on the floor, he would probably assume the worst and call an ambulance, or worse, their aunt and uncle.

A warm breeze billowed his curtains, providing the slightest bit of relief and consequently shutting his door. This was a dangerous situation he was getting into, but Sora could feel his eyelids drooping. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to do anything about it, he used all of his remaining energy to turn Kairi into a safer position and he collapsed against her with their backs touching. The last sound he heard was the front door opening and closing as Roxas announced that he was home.

キングダムハーツキングダムハーツキングダムハーツ

It was especially warm when Sora woke up. Through groggy, half-awake eyes, he glanced down to see that his blanket was crumpled on the floor. Sleepily looking up at his alarm clock, he could see that it was only six a.m., much earlier than he needed to get up for work. Flicking the 'on' switch on the side, seeing as he had forgotten to turn the alarm on before passing out, he happily resolved to sleep until he needed to be up. Shutting his eyes and he tried to get comfortable again. If it weren't so warm, it would have been easier, and he should have kicked the blanket off of him.

_Wait…I did kick the blanket off… It's on the floor…_

The realization hit him like a sack of bricks, and Sora nervously opened his eyes again to see that it was not a blanket that was keeping him so warm, but the girl he had accidentally passed out with. His mouth went dry when he noticed something different about her, and it took every ounce of willpower to keep the morning wakefulness below his waist from getting out of hand. Had she only been sleeping on top of him, he could deal with the awkwardness, but this was something else…

"B-But…b-b-but…why…" he stammered aloud, unable to keep his thoughts in his head. "W-W-Why is she…she…"

Kairi groaned and shifted a bit, and Sora nearly passed out when she rolled into a more visible position.

"W-W-Wuh…Why the hell is she naked?!"

* * *

Hmm, it didn't feel quite so short while I was writing it, but maybe that's because it took me a while longer to write. Then again, 5000 words isn't particularly short; it just feels that way since the average for this story has been about 6700. I was having some trouble at the beginning, but as soon as they got into the bar the rest of the chapter pretty much flew out all at once (well, twice really, since it took more than one sitting to get all of that written). I had a few more ideas for the bar scene, but I figured that adding them in wouldn't have meshed well with the fact that Sora knew she was drunk.

For next chapter, expect some Shiki and Neku interactions; hopefully some more Riku, Xion, Roxas, and/or Naminé interactions (haven't fully decided what's happening for next chapter); and of course find out what Kairi is doing sleeping in the nude on top of poor (lucky? I think so) Sora.

Thanks to **Ken7700** for reviewing!

Thanks for reading and **PLEASE REVIEW!** I can't be sure if things are working or not working if I don't get any feedback!

–_GengaJupite_


	9. An Awkward Predicament

Well, it's that time of year again: school. Unless you're still in middle/high school and living where I am, in which case you've got all the free time in the world with the stupid teacher strike going on. Not sure what that means for my abysmal update rate (it might actually get better since I have two and a half days plus the weekend off) but hopefully something will change. Then again, my first two major projects are due in about a month, so…

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one

* * *

_An Awkward Predicament_

Sora's body was frozen, his mouth agape as he tried desperately to get a hold of the situation. Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him; after all, he did not need to be awake for at least another hour and was probably still tired. He wanted to believe that that was the case, but the longer his eyes adjusted, the more real everything seemed to be.

The brunet wanted to look away, but, being the youthful man that he was, he could not tear his eyes from the sight of Kairi's bare torso specifically her chest. It was wrong of him to be doing this, he knew that, and judgment would be swift if she were to wake up and find him staring. Heck, she did not need to catch him looking; the mere fact that she was naked in a sleeping boy's room was probably enough to make her flip out. She may act flirty, but Sora recalled how upset she had been after the whole Seifer incident.

"Everything okay, Sora?" Roxas's voice sounded from the other side of his door. "What were you screaming about?"

"N-Nothing!" Sora shouted back at his brother. "J-Just a nightmare. I'm fine now."

"…Not sure why you were dreaming about naked people, but okay… I'm heading to work soon so…try not to yell about anything else while I'm gone…"

Sora waited for his brother's footsteps to go away before cursing under his breath. He didn't mean to shout like that, and it probably shocked anyone that happened to be awake in his complex. With the window open the way it was, he would not be surprised if he got more than a few odd looks from his neighbours.

Finally managing to break his gaze from Kairi's exposed body, Sora turned away and sat with his back to her. The sound of her moderate breathing was somewhat unsettling right now, and the brunet could not think of a single thing that he could do to quell his nerves. Leaving the room would probably be a good idea, but it wouldn't really stop this from being a bad situation, nor would it make Kairi any less naked. The thought of redressing her seemed just as bad as undressing her for some reason, especially if she were to wake up while he was in the midst of trying to figure out her bra…

Sora's face burned at the mere thought of going anywhere near her clothes and off-limit areas. His shorts also felt significantly tighter as well, and it took every ounce of his mental strength to loosen them again. How could he even think to do something like that?! It didn't matter if he was taking her clothes off or putting them on; the fact that one or the other had to be done was already questionable enough! In fact, his question of why she was naked in the first place had still never been answered!

A moan from behind him sent shivers running all along his spine, and Sora dreaded what might happen if he turned around to look. The shivers only got worse as he felt Kairi's soft hand gently patting around his lower back and buttocks.

"…Uuuhh…W-…Water… Thirsty…" Her voice came out in a hoarse croak. "My head…ooooh…"

That was the only cue Sora needed to jump up to his feet and rush straight to the kitchen. Once he had caught himself on the counter, he released a long-held breath he had been holding, panting as if he had just run a marathon. First things first, he needed to get Kairi some water; second, he needed to give it to her without looking; third, well, he needed to make sure she didn't kill him when she realized that she wasn't wearing any clothes. The first two things would be easy enough to deal with, but the third…not so much.

Nervously tapping his foot as the tap began filling a large glass, Sora furtively looked at the clock, hoping only that it would be time for him to head off to work. Sadly, time continued moving at its regular pace, and it had been all of ten minutes since he'd awoken.

Turning off the sink once the glass was full, he slowly sauntered towards his room, making sure there was nothing on the floor that he might trip over. Taking note of the blanket and Kairi's top, Sora took a deep breath and shut his eyes before stepping into the room. It was times like these that he was grateful his room wasn't too large, and he quickly found an empty spot beside his alarm clock on the bedside table. Placing down the glass, the nervous teen turned around and cleared his throat.

"U-Uh, there's some water on the table if you want it," he said shakily, eyes still shut tightly.

The sound of his mattress shifting a bit, followed by some rather indulgent glugging informed him that Kairi had successfully located the beverage. Sighing, he opened his eyes and left the room, half-closing the door behind him as he did so.

"Am I…supposed to ask her why she's naked?" he muttered to himself as he slumped onto the couch.

It seemed Kairi had yet to notice her lack of clothing; whether it was due to her overwhelming thirst or hangover, Sora didn't know. He could not even say for sure that she would be angry once she'd realized. It would be a safe assumption in most cases, but, as it tended to be his reasoning for most of his conundrums, Kairi did not fall under the category of 'most cases'.

A loud clunking sound from his room immediately caught Sora's attention, and he quickly turned his head towards the door. Unable to see inside from where he currently was, he barreled towards the room while still keeping in mind that there was a naked girl on the other side. Stopping just before the door, he took another deep breath and slowly peeked in at the ground. He was somewhat relieved at the sight he was met with, and let out the breath he'd taken.

Kairi had simply dropped the empty glass onto the ground after passing out on his bed again. Thankfully, she was lying facedown, so the only part of her that he probably shouldn't be seeing was her butt. Stealthily retrieving the glass, he also grabbed the blanket off the floor and tossed it over her body. Considering the temperature of the room, she would likely end up throwing it off, but that wasn't much of a concern at this point.

As he stepped out of the room, Sora ran a hand through his spikes as he contemplated what to tell Mr. the Wise at the hotel. Considering the circumstances, the brunet did not fancy waking up his redheaded friend, and he figured that she would be too hung over to even want to go to work. Knowing that, would it make sense to tell the manager that she was sick? It seemed logical, but then it would have made more sense for her to tell him directly, seeing as he was a family friend of hers.

Either way, he would just have to come up with some excuse. Shaking his head and clapping his cheeks, Sora lazily put the glass in the sink and headed for the bathroom. There was no point in wasting time or trying to get back to sleep, so he might as well get ready for the day. Things could only get better from here, anyway…

キングダムハーツキングダムハーツキングダムハーツ

"Hahahahaha! S-So can you run that by me one more time?"

"I'd really rather not…"

Shiki tried to coax him to say it again but her giggles masked whatever it was she was trying to say, leaving Sora unsure if he should feel relieved that she couldn't ask him more or annoyed that he was the butt of the joke.

"Heehee…whoo! O-Okay, I-I think I'm okay n-now," she stammered unconvincingly. "W-Well, you're lucky Joshua didn't work last night; otherwise, we wouldn't have anyone to cover the concierge desk."

"Yeah, great," Sora grumbled, giving an uninterested glance towards his grey-haired coworker at the concierge desk, a long line of guests standing before him.

"But still," Shiki continued, to which Sora rolled his eyes, "you kids get up to some crazy stuff nowadays. I would never be so bold as to get drunk and pass out naked at some guy's house."

"Well, that isn't really how it went down. And wait, 'kids'? Last time I checked you were only twenty-two…"

"Yep, and with four years comes plenty of experience, Mr. Gainsborough!"

A tapping on his shoulder caught Sora's attention. Turning around, he faced a yawning Neku in his regular clothes, his suit jacket slung over his shoulder and his big headphones around his neck.

"Don't listen to her," he deadpanned. "Sure, she never did _that_ when we were eighteen, but she was into some other crazy shit back then. Compared to the stuff she does now, your story seems mild. I mean, just a couple nights ago–"

"AAAAAND that's enough of that!" Shiki cut him off, moving to slap her hand over Neku's mouth but accidentally slapping his eyes instead. Only giving him a small apology, she quickly shooed him off. "Phew, that was close."

"I don't think I even want to know," Sora chuckled.

"Yeah, I wouldn't tell you anyway, and I'd kill Neku if he did. So, what'd you end up telling Mr. the Wise? He usually only lets people take sick days if they call him themselves."

"Well, I told him she was sick with a throat infection and couldn't talk. Then he gave me a death stare and asked if that was really true. I ended up saying that that's the best I could come up with because this is Kairi we're talking about and I'm sure he wouldn't believe me even if I told him what actually happened."

"And he just let that one slide?"

"I guess so. He kind of shrugged and said "fair enough". He's known Kairi forever so he probably knows what she's like."

"Darn, I wish I could get away with things like that." Knowing how similar she was to Kairi, Sora was pretty sure that Shiki could make the same excuse, but he decided against telling her that lest she actually try it out.

The morning continued on as usual, with multiple guests checking in and out. Despite keeping himself busy, Sora could only wonder what Kairi was up to at his house, but shook his head and tried to convince himself that she was probably just sleeping or raiding their fridge. If it was the latter, he could only hope that she would put on some clothes, as Roxas would be in for quite a shock when he got home.

Guests and phone calls at the hotel seemed to come in waves, so whenever things started to die down, Shiki would rattle on about something to Sora, whether it had to do with her life or if she was asking about his. In the past, such nonstop working and talking would have exhausted him, but Sora had grown rather used to dealing with chatty people by now, courtesy of a certain redhead. He never had anything of particular interest to talk about, but being a good listener was more of his thing anyway.

"Ugh, this morning is duh-raaaaaagging!" Shiki huffed as the eleven o'clock tolls rang out from the tower. "I need a vacation ASAP."

"Come on, it's not that bad," Sora said. The look that Shiki was currently giving him was more than enough for him to take back his statement. "Okay, okay, it's kind of slow, but it's better than having nothing to do when you have time off, right?"

Shiki raised an eyebrow at him. "You think? I'd way rather be lounging around at home than being bored here."

The teen shrugged in response. To be fair, most people would answer that way, so he was actually the weird one in this situation.

"I dunno, I guess I'd rather get paid to stand around here than waste my time at home. It's too hot to wander around and all my friends are either working or on vacation."

"Still, at least you've got a cute lady friend to welcome you home."

"…"

Shiki giggled, her strawberry locks bouncing as she did so. What was he supposed to say to that? It wasn't like he could turn the situation around on her, since she and Neku actually did live together (at least, he was making the assumption that they did). In any case, Sora wasn't too keen on the idea of nursing Kairi back to health right now, even if it would be the right thing to do. He would much rather spend a regular day with her, go out, goof off somewhere, and do teenager things that he had sort of deprived himself of during high school.

"Um, excuse me," came a timid voice from the other side of the front desk.

"Hi, how can I– Oh, Naminé, hey."

The blonde girl smiled prettily back at him when he recognized her. The two of them still had not had a proper chance to meet each other, but they saw enough of the other to have some sort of familiarity. Roxas still denied that they were a couple of any sort, though.

Shiki conspicuously cleared her throat, causing Sora to look over by reflex. Her face remained plain and professional but a mischievous glint in her eyes told him that she was up to something. Her eyes quickly flicked down to something by his hand, and he glanced at the yellow sticky note she'd placed there to read what it said.

_She's pretty cute but I'm going to tell Kairi if there's something going on between you and her._

Restraining himself from growling, Sora discreetly crumpled it up and tossed it into the trash bin beneath the counter.

"What's up, Naminé? Were you looking for your dad?"

"Yeah, he forgot something at home," she said, reaching into her purse. "Oh, and Roxas told me to bring you this since I was coming here."

Watching as she searched through her bag, Sora took the large Styrofoam container that she handed him. Curious to see what it was, he popped it open to see that Roxas had made him a lunch from the restaurant. It was cold now, but the smell that wafted from it was delicious, and he reveled in the scent for a moment.

"He said you'd probably like it better than whatever you made for yourself at home," Naminé chuckled lightly. "You guys must get along pretty well for him to do that for you."

"Normally I'd agree with you, but knowing Roxas this is probably something he screwed up on and couldn't serve to a customer. Well, as long as it's still edible, I'm happy for it." Picking up one of the phones, Sora dialed in the four-digit extension that went to the manager's office. "Hi, Mr. the Wise. Your daughter is at the front desk to see you… Yep… Okay, will do… Naminé, you can go right to his office. You know where it is, right?"

"Mhm, just down this hall and on the left."

"Yeah, I guess I'll see you around, then. Take care of Roxas for me."

"Heehee, I'll try."

Watching the petite blonde head down the hall, Sora was immediately whirled around once she was out of earshot. Stunned by the sudden forced motion, he was frozen as Shiki anxiously stared at him, her slim hands tightly gripping onto his shoulders while her eyes shimmered with potential gossip.

"Sora, you're cheating on Kairi with the manager's daughter! Oh my goodness, this is like some kind of crazy soap opera!"

Her unrestrained volume garnered them a few confused glances from the people in the lobby, and Sora, as calmly as he could, removed Shiki's hands from his shoulders.

"Seriously, where do you even come up with this stuff?" he sighed. "First of all, I'm not cheating on anyone since I'm not dating Kairi. Second–"

"But you're still secretly dating Mr. the Wise's daughter! Oh, the scandal!" Her overdramatic gasps were irritating, but he couldn't tell if she was being serious or just messing with him – probably a bit of both.

"What? No! I'm not seeing anyone. Naminé's just a friend…more of an acquaintance, really."

"Hmm… You know, last time I checked, friends don't usually bring each other yummy-smelling, homemade lunches."

"It wasn't homemade, it's from a restaurant and she was just passing it off to me from my brother."

"You're cheating on Kairi and Naminé with your brother?! Sora, that's sick! If he were just some other guy, then whatever, but your own brother!"

The brunet could not stop himself from slapping his hand to his forehead. Now he was sure she was screwing with him, but the fact that she was still keeping this going meant that she wasn't going to stop until her lunch break at the very least. He ran his hand down his face in an annoyed fashion. Apparently, this was how Shiki was going to keep herself entertained. Thank whatever higher beings were out there that Kairi wasn't here to pester him too or his headache might actually make his cranium explode.

"Are you done yet?" he asked.

"Heehee, I'll let you go put that in the fridge, but we're going to continue with this when you get back."

"Maybe I'll just go home…"

キングダムハーツキングダムハーツキングダムハーツ

The six o'clock toll rang out throughout the city. From the train station's entrance a large group of businesspeople entered the hotel, all having finished with their conferences and whatnot and ready to relax for the evening. Sora smirked as he watched nearly every man loosen his tie upon entering the lobby. Turning around and heading into the back, he felt thankful that he was allowed to change in the staff changing room before starting work and after his shift had ended.

"You look a little worn out," Neku said as he got into his work clothes. "Busy day?"

"Not exactly," Sora replied while he did the opposite. "The hotel's the same as always, but, man, Shiki really knows how to push my buttons…"

"Heh, no need to tell me. Since my shift and hers are always opposite, she tends to go all out on me on the few times a year when we're both working or both at home."

"Home…"

"…Oh, that's right, now you've got Kairi to deal with, eh? Good luck, buddy, you're gonna need it."

Sighing as he zipped up his bag, Sora waved to Neku and headed out of the changing room. Hoping to keep the exchange to a minimum, he also haphazardly waved to Shiki as he passed her in the lobby. Now he just had to make it to the tram depot before it left, which, at this rate, was not going to be an issue.

Calmly taking a seat on one of the wooden tram benches, Sora gazed outwards at the city. The tram started bumping along and the buildings looming overhead seemed to increase in height as he passed in front of them. Passing cars blew gusts of wind through the open-air tram, sending his spikes into a flurry atop his head. Regardless of the honking cars and glaring windows shining in his eyes, Sora knew that this would be his only moment to relax, so he leaned back as comfortably as he could and tried to make the ride last.

"Yo, heading back from work?" a familiar voice asked as someone sat down next to him. Looking in their direction, Sora scrunched his nose at the smell of smoke on his friend's breath.

"Oh, hey, Riku. Yeah, just got off," he replied. "You too?"

"Sort of," the taller teen replied, popping a piece of gum into his mouth. "They didn't need me at the site we were at, so they're switching me over to that hill that's getting leveled. Don't get me wrong, moving dirt around is easy money, but it's a pretty lame job…"

"Heh, well, at least you don't have to work out, hey?"

"Pfft, I still end up going to the gym on my days off. Look at you, though; your arms are practically twigs. Maybe we should trade jobs."

That was an exaggeration; Sora's arms were at least branch-sized, if they were continuing on with this tree analogy. The idea of wearing a bright orange vest and a hardhat to work every day, though, not to mention the fact that he would be getting dirty and sweaty all day, was not exactly what Sora thought of as having a worthwhile job. Sure, it paid well enough, but he was content with what he was already doing.

"Hah, just kidding," Riku laughed a moment later. "I could never get used to wearing a suit in some crummy office all the time. Makes me wonder how you get by every day."

"You know, I was seriously just thinking the same thing about your job a second ago," Sora laughed along.

The two old friends chatted casually the whole way back, talking about what they had both been up to since summer began. For the most part, both of them had been working too much to spend time with anyone, really. According to Riku, Xion was pretty peeved about it, but he always managed to calm her down by saying that the money he was making was to take her on dates. Sora knew that only a moderate portion of his money went towards Xion.

"Has she never noticed that if you're out making money all the time, you don't have time to take her on dates?" Sora inquired.

"Dunno, I wouldn't doubt it," Riku answered with a shrug. "It's not like I'm trying to save my money for anything specific right now; it's just kind of nice to have, y'know? If I ask for less hours so that I can take her out more often, then I'll be making less and spending more. I could manage it, but I'd rather not."

Sora smirked as he listened to Riku's explanation. "I get what you're saying, but I have to say this right now, we sound like the kind of guys that girls complain about behind our backs."

"Heh, I guess you're right. Kind of like those douchebags on the train that Sayaka completely went nuts on, except we're not anywhere near as bad."

"Wait, who?"

"Never mind, the geek in me just came out." Riku started getting to his feet as the tram slowed to one of its stops. "I have to switch trams here, so I'll see you later, man. Oh, actually, my parents are having people over tonight, so would it be cool if I came and chilled at your place?"

"Yeah, just call me when you're coming over."

"Will do."

Sora watched his best friend hop off the tram and disappear behind a building as the tram continued to bump along its track. He smiled and settled back into a comfortable position on the bench again. He hadn't seen Riku since commencement day, so it was nice to run into him spontaneously. The dumb guy still hadn't kicked his smoking habit, but to be fair, it was entirely possible he had reduced how much he smoked and just happened to have one before getting on the tram.

It was only a short while before Sora got off at his stop. Shaking his legs out a bit, the brunet somewhat hesitantly started towards his apartment building. He hadn't received any messages from Kairi all day, and Roxas hadn't said anything either. Sora wondered if that meant that she had left before Roxas got off work and got home. After all, there was no way his brother wouldn't make some kind of comment if he returned home to find a naked girl with a hangover.

With that thought in mind, Sora decreased his speed even more, but still found himself at the doors to his building within a few minutes. Slowly he entered the building and made his way up the stairs at a snail's pace. Approaching the door to his room, he sighed for what had to have been the hundredth time and quietly fumbled with the lock until it clicked open. With a gentle push, he stepped through the doorway and into the apartment.

"Hey, I was wondering when you'd be back!" Kairi's voice bubbled from the couch. Glancing over, the redhead was sitting there with a bag of frozen peas plopped on her head while she wore nothing but a bra and her shorts.

Sora stared at her for a few moments, unsure how he was supposed to be reacting or what exactly he was taking in at the moment. After what seemed like a while, he turned around to head back out the door.

"Wait, don't leave! Ooh, aah, headache, can't yell…"

Slumping his shoulders in defeat, the brunet whirled back around and kicked off his shoes. He dragged his feet towards his room, tossed his bag in, and went to where Kairi was sitting, feeling reluctant to experience another bubbly, talkative girl after having already spent all day with one.

"How was work, honey?" she teased, scooping some ice cream into her mouth. Somehow, Sora had missed noticing the bowl she was holding when he walked in.

"Stressful, thanks to Shiki," he grumbled. "I really just want to lie down and do nothing right about now, which is funny because that was one of the things we were talking about all day…"

"I don't know why that's funny, but it sounds like fun to me."

Sora eyed her intensely as he slumped down in the spot next to her. "By the way, did Roxas stop by at all?"

"Roxas?" Kairi mused, humming as she held the spoon in her mouth. "Mm… Not since I've been awake, but I didn't get up until about two hours ago. He might've come back and left without realizing I was sleeping in your room."

"That's true," Sora sighed in relief, glad to know that he did not have to explain to his brother why Kairi was passed out naked in his room. "Speaking of which…"

"What's up?"

"Er…well…it's just…" Sora fidgeted around as he tried to come up with the right words to say. It would probably be best simply to ask outright, but something about that seemed…unrefined.

"Heehee, did you want me to share my ice cream?" Kairi giggled, scooping some in her spoon and moving it towards his face.

"No, that's not it," he said, pushing it back. "I, um…it's about…this morning…"

"What about it?"

"Well…you were…y'know…lying on top of me and…uh…"

"Haha, wow, are you trying to imply that I was making moves on you because I moved in my sleep? Come on, Sora, if I was going to tease you, I wouldn't do something that boring."

Sora gritted his teeth a bit, not from anger but from the frustration of wanting to ask her and not wanting to at the same time. "Heh, I wouldn't exactly call it boring…seeing as you were…"

"Oh, there's more? Sora, you dirty–"

"…naked."

"–boy…"

Both of them stopped when that one word escaped Sora's lips. Kairi's joking demeanour suddenly shrank back into one of confusion, almost as if she had just discovered she'd been violated. Of course, she hadn't, but considering what he'd just told her, she had a right to think that something may have happened. The tension in the air was more than Sora could handle, but he didn't have anything more he could say.

After being frozen for a few seconds, Kairi quickly put her ice-cream bowl down and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Sora, you perv."

He blinked a couple of times before retaliating. "What, I'm the pervert?! I didn't undress you or anything, and hey, you're the one hanging around my apartment in nothing but your underwear!"

"These are shorts!"

"Ugh, not the point! Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

"…It smelled like sweat so I didn't want to put it on…"

Sora groaned as he realized that he was to blame for that, not her. Still, that didn't answer the question of why she hadn't been wearing any clothes. It wasn't as though he was expecting her to have a solid answer – or an answer at all, for that matter – but she could at least try to remember why she might have stripped in the middle of the night.

"Hey, wait a second," Sora said when an epiphany struck him. "You knew that you had to get dressed when you got up, so how come you seem so surprised to find out that you were naked?"

Kairi didn't answer at first but after a few moments she sighed and hugged a pillow to her torso. "I told you that I only got up a couple hours ago. I remember waking up this morning and drinking some water, but I passed out after that. When I woke up, I went to the bathroom and saw that I wasn't wearing any clothes, but neither of you were here so I was hoping that I had done that after you guys had left."

"But why would you have done it in the first place?"

"I don't know. I was probably really hot last night and stripped off my clothes. I've woken up like that in the summer before, but this is the first time I've done it in someone else's bed…"

It made enough sense, considering that it was especially hot yesterday, Kairi was drunk, and their bodies were pressed up against each other, sharing the residual heat that was initially trapped under a blanket. Whether it made sense or didn't was not much of a concern, however, as the thick tension in the air still remained now that they had more or less settled what had happened.

"Did…" Kairi stammered a bit. "Did you see?"

Sora's jaw twitched as he tried to figure out what to say. "Just your butt…and maybe for a second…your boobs… But nothing down below, I swear!"

The redhead squeezed onto the pillow tighter, as if Sora was currently imagining her naked right now as well. With a sigh, the mentally exhausted teen turned towards his room and grabbed one of his clean t-shirts from the closet. Heading back into the living room, he tossed it over to Kairi, hoping that the gesture would make her feel better.

"You can wear that. I'll wash your shirt, but the machine in this building is a little wonky. It could take a while."

"…That's fine, I didn't have to be anywhere tonight…"

This was a rather odd side to Kairi; not odd in the sense that she was behaving the way any normal girl might after he had seen her naked, but in the sense that he had never seen her act like this. Not towards him, at least. She seemed so vulnerable, except he was trying his best to let her know that he was not going to do anything to her.

"Um, do you mind if I take a shower?" she asked. "I'm kind of gross right now."

"Huh? Oh, sure, go ahead. I'll go take this stuff down to the washing machine."

Nodding awkwardly to each other, both teens cautiously went about what they were going to do. Gathering up all of his dirty clothes, along with Kairi's shirt, Sora took the laundry basket and headed out the door to the first floor where the laundry machine was located. As he stuffed the clothes into the machine, he couldn't help thinking that that situation could have gone a lot better. It wasn't the worst outcome, but having Kairi treat him like that, especially considering how comfortable she always was around him, was a little painful.

Climbing the steps back to his apartment while the machine did its thing, complete with bumping and banging, Sora stepped into his home. The shower hissed from the bathroom, and he had nothing better to do, so he plopped himself onto the couch and flicked on the TV to whatever was on.

"Um, Sora?" Kairi's voice called from the bathroom. "You're out of soap."

"One second," he shouted back, getting up to retrieve another bar from under the sink. "Um…how do you want me to pass it to you?"

"Oh…uh…I think I forgot to lock the door, so if you just reach inside and toss it towards the shower, I can get it."

Considering she had just freaked out about how he had seen her naked, forgetting to lock the bathroom door while she was showering seemed counter-intuitive. Either way, it made things easier right now, so Sora did as she said, turned the knob and reached in to toss the soap.

"Hey, Sora, can I come in?" a voice called from the front door.

"Whoa, what, Riku?!" he sputtered under his breath. Before Sora had a chance to respond, the front door slowly cracked open. In his panic, Sora jumped straight into the bathroom.

"Yo, Sora, you in the shower?" the tall teen called.

"U-Uh, yeah, I thought you were coming over later!" Looking up from where he had crash-landed in the bathroom, Sora could see Kairi's horrified face peeking out from around the opaque shower curtain.

"What do we do?" she mouthed to him.

"I don't know!" he mouthed back.

"Yeah, I wasn't planning to be here until later tonight," Riku called back, "but it turns out one of the bulldozers broke down at the site and it's right in the way of everything, so they're gonna get it fixed and moved tomorrow."

"O-Oh, that sucks."

"Yeah, anyway, sorry I didn't call you or anything before coming over. By the way, I need to take a shower after you get out, is that cool? I'm covered in construction dust and stuff."

"Um…" Sora glanced up at Kairi, but it was a little hard to say 'no, you can't take a shower and be clean in my home' to his best friend. "Y-Yeah, sure, but I left my clothes in my room, so you'll have to turn around when I get out."

"Heh, whatever, man, it's not like I've never seen you wrap a towel around yourself. Just hurry up so I can– Ow, shit! Nnnnng, wow, that really freakin' hurt…"

"What'd you do?!"

"Ow, crap, I cut my face on something stuck to my glove… Damn, you don't have a mirror anywhere… Uh, hey, Sora, keep the shower curtain closed, okay? I need to come in for a sec."

Riku's footsteps were like a countdown to his imminent doom. What could he do? Sora only had a few seconds before Riku would step through that door and see that he wasn't actually in shower. The bathroom door was still cracked open a little bit after Sora had tried to close it on his way in, so he couldn't just shut it and lock the door now without seeming suspicious.

Before he had time to grasp the situation, Sora was suddenly pulled into the steamy waters by Kairi's surprisingly strong arms. Too stunned to do anything, the brunet tightly squeezed his eyes shut as he felt Kairi's wet, naked body pressed right up against his now-soaked clothes.

"Ow, damn it!" Riku grunted as he stepped into the bathroom. "Sorry, man, this'll only take a second."

"N-No worries, take your time." Kairi slapped him lightly across the face for saying that.

"What the hell are we going to do?!" she whispered aggressively into his ear. "It was bad enough that you jumped into the bathroom but now you're in the shower with me!"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry, I panicked!" he whisper-cried back, earning him another light slap.

"Sora, do you have any bandages?" Riku asked over the hiss of the shower.

"Yeah, in the kitchen, they're in the cupboard over the sink. There's a first-aid kit in there."

"Thanks, man. Son of a bitch, that hurt."

"How did he even manage to scratch his face that badly?" Sora muttered.

"Um, hello?! Now's not the time to be asking stupid questions!" Kairi whispered-growled back.

When they heard the door shut, Sora immediately jumped out of the shower and locked the door behind Riku. This way, he could at least keep him out of the bathroom, but that wasn't the biggest problem here. Turning back around, Kairi was glaring at him from around the shower curtain.

"If Riku doesn't catch us first, I'm going to kill you when this is over, Sora," she growled just loud enough for him to hear. Sora shuddered but accepted that this was his own fault for jumping in. "Now figure something out while I soap myself down. And don't you dare look!"

A plan, they needed a plan and fast. Sora racked his brain for something he could do. Seriously, why did anything to do with Kairi always end up turning into some kind of hectic struggle? No, now wasn't the time to question that. The fact was that this crazy stuff was his life now, and he, being the boring guy stuck in a chaotic world was the plot that kept everyone interested. Seriously, though, life was so unfair sometimes.

Glancing around frantically, Sora reached into the alcove with shelves of towels. Bringing down two of the larger ones, he began taking off his wet clothes. Realizing what he was doing while Kairi was right behind him, he suddenly felt embarrassed and muttered to her.

"Hey, don't look, okay? I'm going to strip down and get in a towel so it looks like I just took the shower."

"You're doing what?! Sora, this'll only look worse if he catches us!"

"Yeah, but even if I tell him to look away while I go to my room, he might still catch a glimpse of me. As long as you stay out of sight, then he won't wonder why I got into the shower with my clothes still on if that happens."

"…Fine, but I'm blaming everything on you if we get caught!"

Sora shuddered at the thought of Riku finding out. Riku finding out meant that Roxas and Xion would find out, which also meant Naminé, which then led to all of their friends and might eventually reach the ears of Axel and Mr. the Wise. That was something Sora would do anything to avoid. He had to, for the sake of his job, reputation, and relationship with Kairi.

While he had been thinking that, Kairi had turned off the shower and was now jabbing Sora's bare shoulder with a pointed finger. Glancing over his shoulder, he got her gesture that she needed the other towel. He passed it to her and waited a few moments until she stepped over the side of the bathtub and stood right behind him.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" she whispered nervously with a hint of annoyance.

"I'll tell him to turn around because we're…I mean I'm coming out. Then I'll peek out the door to see if he's actually turned around, and when he is we'll sneak over to my room. Don't go too quick, though, or he'll wonder why I'm running and look over."

"…I don't like this plan at all, Sora."

"If you have something better, feel free to suggest."

Kairi glowered at him, but from the steam on the mirror it was hard to tell, so he was thankful to avoid her angry looks. "I don't, but that doesn't make this any better."

Sora only nodded, unsure if there was anything else he could say in response to that. Taking yet another deep breath and placing his hand on the knob, he turned it and called out to Riku.

"Hey, I'm coming out, so can you turn around now?"

"You're coming out? Hold on, Sora, I don't swing that way and the fact you're saying this naked right after getting out of the shower is…well…"

"Oh, shut up!" Sora lightly elbowed Kairi as her subdued giggles permeated his ears.

"Haha, okay, I'm turned around."

Like he said he would, Sora peeked out the door to see Riku standing over the sink with a bloody, wet paper towel pressed to his face and the first aid kit sitting next to him on the counter. Slowly letting out his breath, the brunet, with Kairi clinging to his shoulders, gingerly crept out of the steamy bathroom. Each footstep seemed like it might cause an earthquake of some kind of unwanted noise, and it was with great relief that nothing happened as they stepped closer and closer to Sora's bedroom. Just a few more steps and they would be there.

"Can I turn around yet?" Riku asked impatiently. Sora noticed the slightest movement of his friend's face in their direction and did what he thought was best in the situation.

"Whoa, I said don't look!" Sora cried as he hastily shoved Kairi into his room, threw his wet clothes in after her, and struck an embarrassed pose. This, of course, caused Riku to look, but thanks to Sora's panicked reaction, Kairi was out of sight.

"Geez, Sora, quit acting like a twelve-year-old girl and put some clothes on already," Riku chuckled and continued nursing the wound on his cheek.

Sora chuckled nervously and backed into his room. Once inside, he gratefully shut the door and instantly fell into a heap on the ground. When he opened his eyes, Kairi had the blanket held up in front of her while she glared back down at him.

"I swear, if you ever do something like this again…" she mumbled angrily.

"Oh, yeah, because I was totally planning on making this a typical thing. Relax, we're in the clear now. You can take off while he's in the shower."

"Hmph."

"What is it now?"

"I don't like the fact that you're kicking me out like this."

"…Well, you can stay if you want – all I'd have to tell him is that you showed up while he was showering – but you're going to have to explain to him why you're wearing my clothes."

"I'm sure I can come up with something better than you can."

Smirking meanly at him, Kairi dropped the blanket onto Sora's face and ordered him to stay like that until she had put some clothes on. Apparently, she would kick his head when she was done changing.

"By the way," she spoke normally once she could hear the shower turn on in the bathroom, "I'm going to get you back tenfold for this."

Sora had sighed too much today, and all he was left with was a helpless chuckle. It seemed only appropriate to laugh, as he was currently lying on the floor in naught but a towel with a blanket thrown over his face while he waited for Kairi's foot to make contact with his head. If fate could be any crueler, he would rather shoulder the burden now than save it for later.

"Just don't hurt me too bad. I think I've had enough abuse for one day…"

* * *

Aw yeah, I didn't think I could do it, but that's 7500 words in one day! I'm not sure how I feel about the ending, mostly because I wasn't sure when to end it off, but I'm happy with how everything leading up to it went. If I had a more secure way of continuing it just a few more paragraphs, then the end would be better, but I'm going to leave it like this for now.

I'm guessing that most of you found her reason for being naked underwhelming. Well, truth be told, most people don't really have a reason for being naked in bed unless they're about to create the legendary beast with two backs, which they weren't in this case. I figured that the only way to make sense of this was just to say it was hot. Simple, boring, but more reasonable than saying she was trying to flirt with him. Kairi's a tease, not a tramp.

Also, I'll give a cookie to anyone who got the reference in the middle of the chapter :P

Thanks to **Ken7700, The Master of Chaos, Souzousei, **and **coconut5639 **for reviewing! Also thanks to all the people who favourited and followed over the past month; there were quite a lot of you, and it really makes me happy to see that!

Thanks for reading and please review!

–_GengaJupite_


	10. No Escape From Her Extravagance

First off, major apologies to everyone reading for the extremely long wait. Not only did I drop off of FF for about two months, but I also took an extra week to get this chapter written, as opposed to my other two stories that were updated pretty much when I expected to get them done. School was hectic, but I have from now until January to do whatever. Not to say that my update rate will improve drastically, though, as I just received KH2.5 in the midst of writing this chapter and will also be starting a new project with some other people over the winter break. Anyway, for now, let's just focus on the fact that there is a new chapter :D

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one

* * *

_No Escape From Her Extravagance_

Sun, surf, and sand. The sun was high in the sky, radiating its UV rays to bake the casual beachgoers into a pleasant golden brown. The sand was soft on the feet of whoever stepped on it, mixed perfectly with fine grains and salt from the ocean water. Gulls screeched and people laughed as they enjoyed their time on this fine summer day.

Amongst this crowd of smiling people, Sora was a little less pleased with the situation he found himself in. Glancing over at his two companions, he pursed his lips at the sight of them flirting. He had no qualms about spending time with Riku or Xion, but he liked to avoid being the third wheel, especially if Riku started taking things a bit further than an onlooker wanted to see.

"H-Hey, Riku, s-stop it, that tickles!" Xion giggled as he poked her sides with suntan lotion. "Eep! Where do you think you're reaching?!"

"What, don't you know anything about sunscreen?" the silver-haired teen teased. "You have to go a little bit under the swimsuit line, otherwise you'll get burned if it shifts at all."

Xion whacked his hand away from her posterior as he made another attempt. "I can reach that section myself, thanks. Now, if you'd please get my upper and middle back, that'd be great!"

"Well, if you insist. It's kind of a weird place for me to squirt my gooey white stuff, but I'm not opposed."

Sora sighed and did his best to ignore the following crude comments from his best friend and the retaliations from his girlfriend. Pulling out his phone, he reread the texts he'd sent out earlier asking if anyone wanted to come to the beach. Most of them said they had work or plans; a couple said that they were there too, but Sora had no luck spotting them in the crowd of half-naked people.

_Kairi Lea:  
__No fair! I want to have a day off at the beach too! You owe me a beach date!_

In truth, the brunet had sent that text to Kairi by accident. He knew she had to work today, but he'd instinctively included her in the list of people he sent the mass message to. It wasn't until after he'd hit the 'Send' button that he realized he may or may not have hell to pay for doing so. Knowing the redhead, she might take it as him bragging about the fun day he was going to have while she was stuck at work.

A semi-irritated glance over to his friends allowed a wry chuckle to escape Sora's nostrils. Yes, the first thing he associated with the word 'fun' was spending time with a couple while they…now that he looked at them, Sora couldn't even tell what they were doing, though he didn't exactly want to find out either.

Tossing his phone back in his bag, the spiky-haired teen reached into the small cooler they had and pulled out a drink. The can clicked open and he slowly laid back as bubbly liquid ran down his esophagus.

"Yo, Sora, you want to screen up?" Riku asked while simultaneously trying to stop Xion's pinky toe from going up his nose.

"I'm good for now," Sora called back without bothering to look up at them. "I'm just gonna lie under the umbrella for a while, maybe catch up on some sleep."

"Tch, you could've stayed home if you were just going to nap!"

"You could've stayed home if you were just going to "wrestle" with Xion." He felt some sand get kicked by his feet following that statement.

Riku came and sat down on the towel adjacent to him. Sora lazily turned his head to see Xion rubbing lotion onto his back while he faced the brunet. "Okay, okay, we'll go easy on you today," he sort of apologized. "Anyway, you gonna try to chat up any hotties? The beach gods are being pretty generous today."

Sora chuckled as Xion clapped both of Riku's cheeks, leaving white, hand-shaped lotion marks. "C'mon, man, you know that's not my thing. Unlike you, I've got a sense of dignity."

"Yeah, and zero confidence whatsoever. Seriously, though, it's not like you're a bad-looking guy, Sora. I mean, sure, with me here you might look like a little boy by comparison, but I'll try to face the other way so that that comparison doesn't happen too often."

"Thanks, you're a real lifesaver…"

Xion giggled from behind Riku. "Play nice, boys. Besides, Riku, Sora has Kairi, remember?"

"Oh, that's right, and she's loads hotter than any of the other chicks here."

"Excuse me?"

"Love you~"

It looked as though they were going to go back into play-fighting mode, but they quickly realized it themselves and restrained from doing so, turning their attention back to Sora.

"Everyone keeps saying I'm with with her," Sora explained as he shut his eyes, "but we're not together. We talk a lot, sure, but that's also because we work at the same place right now."

"Yeah, but you wouldn't mind dating her, would you?" Xion teased.

"Well…no…but that's different than saying I _want_ to be with her."

"Heehee, you don't need to be so bashful, Sora. You like Kairi."

"I…" he paused for a second and scratched his head. "Maybe a little, but not enough to do anything about it."

Usually, Sora would have simply brushed off such a question with a simple no, but he couldn't deny that his feelings for Kairi were starting to change little by little. As much as she annoyed and stressed him out at times, the bubbly redhead had grown on him, to the point that he was closer to her than any of his other female friends. Still, that didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things.

"So…" Riku began after a short silence, "you like her but don't want to ask her out? Geez, man, grow a pair and do it!"

Sora reopened his eyes and tossed a pebble at his best friend. "I don't need to hear that from you of all people. How long did it take for you and Xion to become official?"

Riku smirked and waved his hand floppily. "That's a different situation, Sora. I didn't hold off asking her out because I was too nervous; I held off because I couldn't decide if I wanted to be held down."

"You mean held _up_ by a loving girlfriend that doesn't support polygamy," Xion added in an overly sweet voice.

"Yeah, that."

The brunet sighed and shut his eyes again. "Like I said, I'm not nervous, I just don't think of her in that way. I'm not shallow enough to ask her out just because she's attractive."

"Careful, Sora, that's a fine line you're walking," Riku warned. "It's a man's duty to go after girls he thinks are attractive! It's one of the rules in the unwritten handbook for men and bros."

"Yeah? Then what are gay guys supposed to do, still hit on girls?"

"They can hit on guys. Personally, I'd be flattered if a gay guy told me how hot I am. If he's looking at me with the same eyes as a straight girl, who am I to judge his good taste? I wouldn't let him run with it any further than that, but you get the idea."

"You know, I can never tell if you're pretending or if you really are as narcissistic as you make yourself sound," Xion mused.

"Don't try to figure it out. I've known him since we were kids and I still don't really know either." Riku seemed to ignore the laughter at his expense.

The three of them continued to chat and laugh about mundane things for the next few minutes. It had only been about a week since Sora last saw Riku, but compared to that time, this one was actually enjoyable for the most part, mostly because Kairi wasn't here to get mad at him. As long as he and Xion kept their PDA to a minimum, maybe being a third wheel wouldn't be as bad as he was thinking it was.

Once their sunscreen and soaked into their skin, the couple ran off towards the water, presumably to splash and chase after each other in the completely stereotypical fashion that couples do. Sora chuckled to himself as he tried to picture those two acting like that. What was more likely to happen was that Riku would splash Xion with way more than a few sprinkles, which would result in her giving chase to tackle him into the water. Even if they were doing the same things as all the other couples, the manner in which they did so would be a comical juxtaposition.

With nothing else to do, Sora calmly laid back and shut his eyes. He quickly became lost in thought as Xion's words bounced around in his head.

Did people really think he and Kairi were that close? Considering how much time they'd spent together vs. how long they'd known each other that kind of made sense, but at the same time it felt like no one really noticed that they had only known each other for about a month and a half. Well, that was excluding the five-month gap between meeting her and finding out they went to the exact same school. Either way, Sora wasn't sure what to make of the fact that people were already pairing him and the redhead together.

Then he had his own feelings to consider as well. Sure, he liked her, and he could tell that he would probably like her more as time went by, assuming things kept on going the way they were right now. It was too early for him to even think of entering a relationship with her though. Frankly, the thought of dating her seemed like it might be more of a hassle than staying the way they were now. Even if they did start going out, she would probably break up with him before long; after all, he had no experience in relationships. He'd had a few crushes in the past, maybe even had a thing with a couple of girls, but it had never evolved to the point where he could say that there was anything meaningful there.

Unable to fall asleep with those thoughts in his head, Sora stretched his arms as he sat up. As he looked around at all the other beachgoers, he suddenly began to feel rather out of place. Instead of playing in the water or laughing with a group of friends like everyone else around his age, he was just sitting alone under the umbrella. He didn't feel like a regular teen; he hadn't since the moment he turned thirteen. If anything, right now he felt more comparable to that one old guy that always stands at a beach or pool in a speedo with his hands on his hips while he people-watches. That thought alone made him shudder, but other people noticing him would probably think the same thing.

Grabbing the sunscreen, he lazily began to rub it along his arms and torso. This must be what it felt to be a side character. While everyone else was off being the protagonists of their own lives, he didn't feel like he was doing enough to fit that role of protagonist. At school everyone was aspiring to be something after they graduated, at work all his coworkers were either trying to move up the corporate ladder or were using their current job as a stepping stone, and even here at the beach everyone was having fun like normal. This was a beach episode, so why was he sitting alone on the sidelines?

"Hey, is that Sora?"

"Maybe, I don't know anyone else with hair like that."

Hearing his name called, the brunet turned around to see some familiar faces. They were Roxas's friends, but he had met them enough times to be on friendly terms with them. Even if he couldn't see them, he recognized their voices from all the times they'd hung out at his and Roxas's apartment. Trying to get rid of the depressing atmosphere he'd created, the brunet waved to them.

"It is Sora!" the blond, Hayner, exclaimed as he ran ahead from the other two, Olette and Pence.

"Hey, how's it going?" Sora greeted plainly. "If you guys are looking for Roxas, he's working today."

"Yeah, yeah, we know. We tried to get him to take the day off, but apparently he was supposed to learn something new today." Hayner put a mocking tone on those last few words.

"Hey, he's taking his work seriously," Olette said when she'd caught up, greeting Sora with a simple wave. "Heehee, besides, you don't seem to complain when he brings us leftovers from work."

"I won't complain if a chef decides to bring me free food, but I will complain if one of our best friends always chooses work over us!"

Last but not least, Pence bumbled over to where they were, slightly out of breath when he got to them. "You know he wouldn't be able to bring us food if he wasn't working, right?"

Sora chuckled as Hayner gave a disgruntled click of his tongue.

"Are you here by yourself, Sora?" Olette asked.

"Oh, uh, no, I'm here with a couple friends. I was going to take a nap, so I think they ran off into the water or something."

"Heh, couldn't you have stayed home if you wanted to sleep?" Hayner teased. Sora did his best to ignore the fact that Riku had already said that to him.

"Well, that and I didn't want to be a third wheel. Better to let them have some time alone, right?"

"I hear you," Pence sighed. "Still, third wheel is better than fifth."

"What are you saying, Pence?" Olette stammered. "We're all single, aren't we?"

"Technically, yeah, but it's not like I can't tell you and Hayner are something. Same goes for Roxas and Naminé. I'm not jealous, but it does feel a little weird when we all go to the movies or something. I always have to sit in between the four of you…"

Olette did what she could to avoid guiltily looking at Pence. Hayner just laughed. Sora had to wonder if this was how people felt when he and Kairi were hanging out with them; granted, the only time he could think of when it was only the two of them and one other person was last week when Riku came over. Considering how annoyed with his antics she had been, Sora could only suspect that Riku hadn't felt like much of a third wheel that evening.

"Haha, anyway," Hayner said, "we're going to head over to the concession stand. In case Roxas doesn't check his phone, can you let him know we'll all be at my place tonight?"

"Yeah, no problem. Later."

Waving them off, Sora turned back around in time to see Xion tackle Riku into the water. He smirked, having earlier predicted that exact situation to occur. The two of them splashed around for a bit before starting to make their way back to the towels. Seeming to notice that Sora was looking in their direction, Riku waved to him, got distracted by a voluptuous woman passing by, and almost immediately received a whack from Xion. Seriously, the guy just never learned.

"How's your head?" Sora jeered once they were within hearing range.

"Eh, I've had it worse," Riku said nonchalantly, proving to be a mistake.

"Maybe if you didn't gawk at other girls, you wouldn't have to put up with it!" Xion huffed.

"Aw, c'mon, you know I don't mean anything by it."

"That's not the point."

Bicker, play, bicker, play; was this how relationships usually were? If that were the case, it was only further dissuading Sora from wanting to enter a relationship with Kairi. Right now, all they seemed to do was play, and he would rather keep it that way. He'd already pissed off the redhead once; he wasn't about to push his luck. Knowing how karma seemed to work, it would mean that there would come a time when the lack of bickering caught up to them and there would be no more playing. He wanted to avoid such a time at any cost.

"Sora, what do you think?" Xion suddenly asked.

"H-Huh?" he stuttered dumbly.

"Yeah, let's hear what you've got to say," Riku chided as well.

Sora stared at both of them blankly, having missed the question altogether. He could only assume that they had asked something about Riku checking out girls while he had a girlfriend. With his thoughts scrambled, he blurted out whatever seemed logical at the moment.

"Uh, I-I think it's fine if he's not planning on doing anything…?"

A snooty grin slowly formed on Riku's face while Xion's dropped into a disappointed frown. Desperate not to seem like he had taken too much of his best friend's "advice" to heart, Sora stammered out a little more to fix his answer.

"But you shouldn't do it…when she's around…I think."

It didn't make him sound any less stupid, but Riku's expression wasn't quite so smug anymore. The loud couple had suddenly become quiet, and Sora had to admit that this was much more uncomfortable to be around than when they were flirting. At least he could just avoid looking during those times, but this whole situation had an uncomfortable air to it.

"A-Anyway, I've gotta pee," he said after the discomfort proved to be too much. "I'll be back in a bit."

"You've got a whole ocean behind you," Riku mumbled.

Crude.

"I'll use the bathroom instead."

Trying to hurry off at a pace that wouldn't make him seem awkward, Sora breathed a sigh of relief when he was out of earshot. Hopefully they would take this opportunity he'd given them to make up. Knowing them, some little spat like this would get resolved in less than a couple sentences. All Xion had to do was make sure she tightened Riku's leash a little bit at a time until he was on the same level as every other guy. He had faith that she could handle it, mostly because he didn't want to have to be the one to do it in her stead.

Somehow managing to kill an ample amount of time walking to and from the bathrooms, Sora returned to find Riku and Xion acting like their regular selves, just as he had predicted they would. Glad to have the tension gone, he rejoined them under the umbrella as they finished laughing about something.

"Oh, hey, you're phone rang while you were gone so I picked it up," said Riku.

Sora ignored the fact that Riku had openly stated that he had slightly invaded the brunet's privacy. "Uh, okay… Who was it?"

"Kairi. She sounded kind of pissed and happy at the same time. I don't really know how to explain it. Anyway, she said something about wanting to meet you at the secret spot around six tonight and that she would eat your face if you didn't show up."

"Well, at least I know you're not making this up… That's not really a threat anyone else would use…or even think up…"

"Really? I thought it sounded kind of hot. Like she wanted to make out or something."

"It's Kairi, so it could mean that or it could mean that she will literally bite my face until I've apologized enough times."

Riku and Xion glanced confusedly at each other for a moment and then back at Sora. "Everybody's got something that gets them off," Riku added.

Shaking his head and standing up because he didn't want to continue this conversation, Sora scrunched some sand between his toes and looked down at them.

"I'm gonna take a dip in the water. Might as well make the most out of today in case she decides to kill me for being a minute late."

"Hah, whipped!" Riku laughed as he stood to join him.

"Yeah, I'll let you think _I'm _the whipped one if it makes you feel better."

キングダムハーツキングダムハーツキングダムハーツ

The sun was hidden behind the buildings around him as the bar's ladder came into Sora's field of vision. Checking the time, he was relieved to see that he was fifteen minutes early. There was never any telling what misfortune might befall him if he incurred the wrath of Kairi. When it came to her, it was always better to be safe than sorry, mostly because there might not be another chance to learn from that mistake.

The ladder creaked as usual while he carefully made his way up. Considering it had been pulled down from where it hung, he could only assume Kairi was here already. Hopefully she didn't take the fact that he showed up after her as a way to say he was late, but it wouldn't be the first time she sprung a cheap shot like that on him.

"Yay, you're here!" he heard her cheer as the top of his head poked above the edge of the roof.

"Heh, I'm not sure I had much of a choice," he chuckled dryly, "after all, my face was at risk. But you got here pretty quickly after work."

She helped pull him onto the roof with a light giggle. "Hehe, well, to tell the truth Mr. the Wise let me leave after lunch. Neku had to make up for missing a shift, so he slept for the morning and came in during the afternoon."

Sora scratched his head as he tried to put that together. "But Neku's the night receptionist. Shouldn't Shiki have gotten the day off instead of you? It'd make more sense for you to get the day off if Joshua had to make up a shift, but not Neku."

The redhead gave him a playful wink and stuck her tongue out. "Yeah, but Shiki and I decided to have a trade off. This way she got to spend the day with him and I got to have a day off. It's a win-win-win!"

"I think you have one too many wins there."

"Isn't Neku a winner too?"

Sora paused for a moment as his face twisted into an amused smirk. "Heh, I'm not so sure about that, but whatever."

Kairi gave him an odd look but quickly shrugged it off. Following her as she headed toward the skylight, they took a seat and started chatting about what they had been doing earlier, but as usual ended up going off on whatever came to mind. The brunet found himself laughing as Kairi explained how she had tried to make some kind of fancy dish at home with all the wrong ingredients, figuring she could simply substitute things that looked kind of similar. As one would expect, she nearly vomited from the first bite; rather than throwing it away, however, she wrapped it up in plastic wrap so she could stick it in the fridge and leave a note for Axel saying that he could eat it. Sora could only guess she wanted to hang out around now so that she wouldn't have to deal with him blowing up at her.

"So," Kairi said when the two of them had finished laughing at her story, "I can't remember if I asked or not, but what have you got planned for the summer?"

"Uh…nothing, really," Sora answered plainly. "What about you?"

The redhead tapped her finger on her chin as she hummed. "Mm, I've got something planned, but I'll tell you about it later. You didn't think of anything you wanted to do after graduating though? This is our last summer as kids!"

As kids, huh? Sora hadn't thought of himself as a kid since he reached double digits. "Not really; Roxas and I have been living on our own since January, and we've both been working since we started high school."

"Rrr, you know I didn't mean it like that. This is the best time to do something fun and exciting! After the summer, almost everyone we know is going to be working or going to school. Don't you want to enjoy yourself?"

"I'm not _not_ enjoying myself; I mean, I pretty much figured that what I'm doing now is what I'll be doing for at least the next few years. The only reason it wasn't like that before was because I needed to finish school but even then I was just going enough to pass. I'll just get used to this sort of lifestyle and wait for my vacation time to build up."

"That seems so…so…boring!" She said it as if he didn't already know. "How come you're so set on a boring life? You sound like you're about to turn thirty tomorrow!"

"Well…it isn't that I don't want to do stuff, but everyone I know has different schedules and I'm not itching to go anywhere. Besides, aren't you working for the same reasons?"

"N-Not exactly," she stumbled on her response a bit. Before he could interject, she cut him off. "Anyway, what I'm using my paychecks for is none of your concern! We need to get you out of this ugly mindset of yours."

"Ugly?" Sora chuckled at her choice of words. "Middle-aged, working class people everywhere just died a little bit."

"It's not ugly on them, it's ugly on you! Geez, Sora, we aren't even twenty!" The redhead hopped up to her feet and pointed fiercely at his face. "That's it, I've decided!"

Sora waited for about a minute for her to announce what it was she had decided on. It seemed she wasn't going to, as she just continued standing in the exact same pose while he stared back up at her. Leave it to Kairi to confuse him for the sake of emphasizing her point.

"…And what exactly is it you've decided on?" he asked in a slightly hesitant voice.

"I've decided–" she paused for effect, "that you are coming along on my trip with me! No questions, no buts, and no excuses!"

Yet again, there was another silence, though this one left Sora with a more genuine feeling of confusion. He darted his eyes back and forth before focusing on her again, half expecting the simple action to get her to elaborate, but he was once again met with that same facial expression and finger pointing at his face.

"I think…we need to rewind this conversation a bit…"

This time Kairi seemed to be confused by what he meant. "Um…okay? That's kind of a funny request but I'll give it a shot. What did I say again…? Oh right: geez, Sora, we aren't even twenty!" She hopped on the spot. "That's it, I've decided!"

"…I didn't mean rewind like that."

With a sigh, Sora stood up momentarily so he could guide Kairi into the spot she had been sitting a few minutes prior before sitting back down.

"What's this trip about?" he asked once she had settled in. "I won't bother saying you can't force me to go, but at least let me know what you're talking about."

"Oh, haha, oops," she chortled, lightly knocking herself on the head. "I said I was going to mention it later, but it kind of slipped out. Actually, I was planning on inviting you normally, but now you don't have a choice.

"My family and Naminé's family co-own a big beachfront property on Destiny Islands. We usually go every year, but neither of our parents could make it this summer, so they're letting us go on our own. I figured I would invite you since it'd be weird if it was just me hanging out with Nami and Roxas all by myself."

"Huh, Roxas is going?" Sora said after taking a moment to process that last part.

"I'd assume he is. We'll probably end up bringing more people, but my guess is that she'll ask him first."

That made sense. Despite Roxas's constant insistence that he and Naminé weren't an item, even their other friends already knew about it. To be fair, Sora wasn't really in a position to call his brother out on his relationship, considering everyone was also making the exact same claims about him and Kairi.

"I can probably go, but will your parents trust you to bring guys over when there aren't any adults around?"

"Ugh, well, that's the downside to all of this," she grumbled, putting on her most exaggerated grumpy face. "They said we can bring a bunch of friends, but Axel and his friends are coming to 'supervise' too. It's a big house, so we can probably keep our distance, but it would've been nice if he wasn't going to be there."

Sora still didn't fully understand the enmity the Lea siblings had for one another. From what he could tell, Axel seemed to be a fairly amiable guy, if not overly lax. Regardless, having Axel there might prove problematic for the brunet as well.

"Oh, if Axel's going, then I'm not sure if I can come along," Sora said.

"Oho? Were you planning on doing dirty things while there were no adults around to keep us at bay?"

"Why did I know you were going to think of it that way…? What I meant was that I'm not sure if I can go if my boss is going to be away at the same time. It's not like we both need to be around, but I might not be able to take a vacation at the same time as him. Even if that wasn't how it was, do you think Mr. the Wise would be okay with both of us taking time off at the same time?"

Kairi pondered the problems for a moment, but somehow it didn't seem like she was thinking too hard. After a few seconds of thinking, she just smiled and shrugged. "We can always get Axel to send a couple of temps over while we're away, right?"

Sora smacked his palm against his forehead. It wasn't that they couldn't do that, but it seemed a bit odd to send a temp to replace a temp for a few days. Now that he thought about it, was he even allowed to take vacation time as a temp? It didn't seem like either of his bosses would mind it, but it was still a question that was worth asking.

"Anyway, this topic is no longer up for debate!" the redhead announced enthusiastically. "Sora, you are coming on this trip no matter what, understand?"

"S-Sure…"

Despite his lackluster response, saying that he wasn't excited at the prospect of going on vacation with Kairi would be a lie. Of course, Kairi's order for him to come along meant nothing since he still had to check with his bosses, but if they were okay with him going, then he would actually have something to look forward to. She had neglected to tell him when this trip was happening, but that was something he could ask her about later. For now, Sora was just happy that he would have some more time to spend with this bubbly, stressful, fascinating, unbelievable, silly airhead of a girl.

"Oh, you should invite Riku along too!" she added. "It'll be more fun with more people, right?"

That was true, but it would all come down to luck if Riku could get off from work, and knowing him he would bring Xion along. It didn't sound like Kairi was going to limit the number of people going, so he let her know that the two of them were sort of a package, to which she simply accepted.

"Just out of curiosity," the brunet mused, "how many people are coming? You're probably bringing along some other friends too, aren't you?"

"Let me see," the redhead responded and began counting on her fingers while mouthing the names of people. "…Ten…eleven…twelve including us. Well, that's assuming everyone we ask can come."

"Whoa, twelve? Doesn't that seem like a lot of people?"

"Mm, wait, let me count again… You and me…plus Nami and Roxas…those three…Riku and Xion…Axel and his buddies; yup, that's twelve! We also may or may not meet up with some friends while we're there, so there could be a whole bunch of us hanging out."

When she told him it was a big property, he assumed she meant that it was big enough to fit two families, but if it was big enough to accommodate twelve or more people, this place must be huge! It did make sense now that he thought more about it, though, considering that Naminé's father was the manager of a four-star hotel and Kairi's parents were traveling businesspeople with enough money to support their kids' living expenses while they were away for most of the year. Still, he was almost nervous to see how big this beach house was now.

"Sora? Hellooo, Sora~!"

He blinked in surprise when he noticed Kairi's face right up in his own, practically touching nose to nose.

"Uh, sorry, I spaced out there," he chuckled weakly. "I'm just trying to wrap my head around how big this beach house of yours is."

Kairi grinned from ear to ear, looking almost triumphant that he was so dumbfounded by the mere thought of how great her property could be. Not that she had any reason to be acting this way; _she_ wasn't the one who had purchased it, after all. Still, her head didn't seem to be swelling, nor did her nose start to grow, so it seemed that she wasn't taking too much pride in this.

"Haha, I'm sure you'll be amazed when you see it!" she stated proudly. "It _is_ pretty spectacular, even to me."

Scratch that thought about her not seeming too proud.

"Riiiight," Sora responded skeptically. "Anyway, when exactly is this trip supposed to be happening? I have to see if it'll be okay for me to go."

The redhead scrunched her face at him as those words hung in the air a bit. "Sora, I told you that you don't have a choice. You are coming no matter what!"

"O-Okay, sure, but that still doesn't answer my question."

"You don't need to know, I'll just come kidnap you one day and we'll be on our way!"

"What about my clothes?"

"I'll grab some stuff out of your closet."

"My toothbrush?"

"I'll grab that too."

"Riku and Xion?"

"Them too."

This was getting a little ridiculous. "What about Roxas? Couldn't I just ask him when the trip is? Even if he doesn't tell me, I'll probably still notice him packing away some clothes and stuff."

"Um…" She hummed to herself as she tried to think of another silly excuse not to tell him. "I'll make sure Naminé doesn't tell him the right date and then we can kidnap him too!"

Sora let out a deep sigh, but couldn't help himself from smiling over her usual antics. This was such a typical thing for them to do. Going back to how Riku and Xion always seemed to bicker and play, Sora hoped that this was what bickering with Kairi was like, because it pretty much seemed like playing anyway. Maybe that's how those two saw their bickering as well, but he would have to ask them about it some other time.

Allowing this to keep going, Sora proposed a hypothetical to her. "Let's say you manage to get by without telling anyone when we're going. Couldn't I ask Axel? He _is_ my boss, and even if he was in on your charade, do you really think that you and Naminé could successfully pull off a kidnapping?"

Apparently she hadn't thought about Axel, as she quickly lost the smug expression she had been wearing throughout this back-and-forth they were having. Sora watched with amusement as she tightly shut her eyes and pressed her pointer fingers to the sides of her temples. If he didn't know any better, he would guess that she was trying to attack him with some form of psychokinesis. Even she wasn't so childish as to try something like that, though. He was about ninety percent sure of it…or maybe eighty-five.

"I know!" she blurted suddenly, looking like a lightbulb just lit up over her head. "I'll threaten to force-feed more of that gross thing I made today to Axel! He definitely won't tell you then!"

"And the kidnapping?"

"I'm stronger than you are!"

"I kind of doubt that."

"Bro, do you even lift?"

"…'Kay, let's just say you and Naminé _somehow_ manage to kidnap Roxas and me. Do you really think you can overpower Riku?"

"Heehee, Riku's a perv. All I'd have to do is flirt with him a little and he'll come along without any questions."

"It's terrible, but I know that would probably work… Xion would be pissed if she found out, though. You play dirty, Ms. Lea."

"I do what it takes to win!"

Before their playful bantering could go on any longer, the sound of the ladder creaking stole both of their attentions. After a few short moments, Demyx's head popped up over the top, and he looked a little bit peeved; though, this was still Demyx so he was wearing that signature awkward smile of his.

"Hey, guys, I know I said you could come up here whenever you wanted, but keep it down, will you? You're disrupting the performers."

They both glanced at one another and sent apologetic looks back at him. "Sorry, Demy," Kairi said in a cheerfully apologetic way. "We got a little carried away talking about the Destiny Islands trip."

"Oh, is Sora coming along too?"

"Yep, he doesn't have a choice now!"

Demyx looked fairly confused over what that was supposed to mean and glanced at Sora, but the brunet could only give him a shrug in response.

"Cool, cool," the blond bar owner said somewhat indifferently. "Guess I'll see you in a couple weeks, then. But seriously, keep it down now."

"Demyx!" Kairi shouted. He had already descended back down, and didn't bother responding to her shout.

A short silence ensued, the only sounds provided by the musicians below and the cars in the distance. Sora cleared his throat, hoping that the girl beside him wasn't too peeved over the fact that Demyx had ruined her plan with a single sentence.

"Hehe, so it's in a couple weeks, huh?" Sora laughed. "Should I…forget that I heard that?"

Slowly turning towards him, the redhead sighed, but quickly readopted her earlier demeanour with an angry smirk. In an attempt to seem intimidating she jabbed one finger into his chest and used her other hand to cup his chin. More than intimidated, Sora simply felt confused.

"Make sure that you do, or I'll eat your face!"

And with that unclear threat, Sora did what he could to erase Demyx's words from his memory. At least he had the trip to look forward to.

* * *

Hmm, well, this chapter certainly turned out odd. I don't think it was bad, but it did take a bit of rewriting, specifically near the end and halfway point. Maybe it's just me, I dunno, I'm still trying to get back into the swing of writing after that hiatus.

Anyway, I've sort of got an idea of how long this story is going to be now, though it's not for certain. It's either going to be twenty-one or twenty-three chapters (so look at that, we aren't even halfway through yet). I don't usually do this, but I'm going to ask this to you guys directly: would you like to see more Riku and Xion, or should I keep the attention solely fixed on Sora and Kairi? I could go either way, but it's nice to hear where you guys stand on that. It wouldn't push Sora and Kairi's relationship to the side by any means, but you would get to see some more development on the other two. Anyway, I'll let you guys tell me in your reviews and I'll see what the consensus is plus what I feel like doing when I start writing the next chapter.

Thanks to **relena soulheart, Painted With a Palette, **and **WitsWithMe** for reviewing!

Thanks for reading and please review!

–_GengaJupite_


	11. Understanding Others

Happy New Year! Ah, it's been a long wait again… I really don't mean to keep neglecting you guys with these delays. Given the time of year, I'm hoping that it's understandable why it took a little longer to get this chapter written, but I still feel bad. Hopefully I'll be able to write during the upcoming school term to make up for the fact that this story's updates have been less frequent than my other two. They're all kind of reaching the midpoint so I can't exactly say that I'll just focus on one and work on the others later on without pissing some people off. I'll try to get at least one chapter for each story written over my school term.

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one

* * *

_Understanding Others_

"You know, Sora, I think you're taking Kairi just a little too seriously."

"And I think you aren't taking her seriously enough."

"Haha, sorry, but trying to put 'Kairi' and 'serious' in the same thought doesn't process too easily."

"C'mon, Roxas, I know she can be a little over-the-top but…"

Sora paused as he was about to tell his brother to ease up on the teasing. Sadly, Roxas wasn't being all that insensitive by saying that "serious Kairi" was something of an oxymoron. Sure, the brunet had seen her serious and vulnerable sides, but that didn't change the image she portrayed as the ridiculous redhead everyone knew and loved.

"Hah, see?" Roxas chuckled when Sora was unable to complete his thought. "Anyway, you can't really expect her to kidnap us, so you can stop putting together defenses against some kind of attack."

Again, Sora was about to argue back, but he had to stop and look at the things in his hands: duct tape, a screwdriver, a hammer, screws, and some nails. It was like some kind of Saturday morning cartoon. What was he even planning on doing with this stuff? The proprietor wouldn't exactly be happy to find out he'd boarded up the front door and his bedroom window to keep a cute girl from kidnapping him. Besides, even if he did board everything up, Kairi, being the crafty person she was, would probably find an equally cartoonish way to sneak or break through the barricade.

Sighing, Sora tossed the tools into the small toolkit he had gotten them from and slid it back under the kitchen sink.

"I still can't believe she managed to get Naminé to keep the date from you, too."

Roxas let out a wry chuckle. "Heh, well, to be honest, I didn't really have the heart to force it out of her. Naminé is kind of delicate, so getting upset with her wouldn't result in anything good. Anyway, you asked both of your bosses, didn't you?"

"I did, but it went pretty much exactly how I expected." Sora flopped down onto the couch and leaned his head back in an exasperated manner. "Axel said he couldn't say or else Kairi would feed him some nasty thing and Mr. the Wise said that she had informed him of the plan. Apparently he's okay with giving both of us time off _and_ going along with her crazy ideas."

"Damn, why's he so nice to you? I'd kill for him to joke around with me too."

"What, he's mean to you because you're dating his daughter?"

"No, he's just freakishly intimidating in the nicest of ways." Roxas followed Sora's earlier action and flopped onto the couch beside him. Apparently he wasn't going to deny his and Naminé's relationship status either. "He tells me stories about his past training in the army and how he was honourably discharged because he got shot six or seven times in battle. Supposedly he still managed to take out five more guys before the bullet wounds got to him."

"Huh, I'd never think he was injured given how lively he is, especially since he looks at least fifty."

"Yeah, and now you see why I'm so terrified of him. It doesn't help when he follows up by mentioning that Naminé is his only kid and how he would relive that experience a thousand times over if it meant protecting her from any guy who didn't treat her perfectly."

Sora curled his lips in to keep from laughing. He could only try to sympathize with what that must be like, and he suddenly felt glad that Kairi's parents were always away. Judging from how professional they had looked at the commencement ceremony, the last thing Sora wanted to do was get on their bad side. It probably wouldn't end up that way if they knew that he and Kairi weren't a couple, but the idea of giving them the wrong idea did little to ease his mind.

"Knock knock," Riku's voice called in through the open window.

"Door's open!"

In stepped the silver-haired teen, a pair of bluish aviators blocking his eyes and an unlit cigarette pinched between his lips. With his tank top, cargo shorts, and flip-flops, the guy was basically a walking advertisement for the entire season of summer.

"All you need is a fedora and you can be mega-douche," Roxas jabbed, receiving a flip-flop to his face right after.

"Heh, little punk," Riku chuckled while keeping the cigarette in his mouth, perhaps as a coping mechanism for withdrawals. "You guys look tired. Late night or something?"

Sora shook his head. "Nope, just trying to figure out how to stop Kairi from breaking and entering to kidnap us." Riku instantly took on a toothy grin and gestured for the brunet to elaborate. "Basically, she's coming sometime this week to kidnap us for that trip I told you about. Neither of us knows exactly what day she's coming, so I thought barricading the door might be a good idea."

"Ha! Classic Kairi," Riku laughed. "Sucks for you, though. She had to tell Xion and me so that we could take time off of work. Wasn't too happy that she couldn't hide it from us too, but she didn't have much of a choice."

"Oh, did she threaten you not to tell us though?" Roxas leaned forward in anticipation.

"Nope, but watching Sora panic like this is more fun than letting you guys know. What better way to start a trip than with a kidnapping?"

"I'm pretty sure almost every other way is better…"

Roxas stood up and turned the fan to its highest setting, though it did little more than blow hot air around the room and make noise. "Hey, I just noticed, but isn't it kind of weird that she's only inviting us?"

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"Well, you guys have really only known each other for a few months, right? Not that you aren't her close friend, but wouldn't you think she'd invite her close friends before you?"

Riku laughed, possibly mistaking the harmless comment as some kind of jab at either Sora or Kairi. Sora, on the other hand, scratched his head in wonderment. He really hadn't thought about that. He did vaguely recall her saying "those three" when she was listing off everyone coming without referring to whom those three were. It was possible they were friends of hers that he didn't know about.

"Heh, hey, if she doesn't bring any distractions, that's a good sign for Sora, eh?" Riku nudged his best friend in the side. "I mean, think about who we know is going so far. Other than her brother and his friends, it's basically a couples retreat."

The brothers both blinked at the taller teen and glanced at one another, apparently not having thought about that either. Riku started blathering on about all the dirty things that might happen, but Sora tuned him out as he tried to put some of these thoughts together.

It was hard to imagine Kairi had planned it this way, as the mentality during her spiel about the trip was 'the more the merrier'. Inviting more people didn't seem like something one would do for a couples retreat unless she could be certain that everyone being invited had a significant other. Besides, even if she _had_ planned it that way, that would imply that she wanted to move his and her relationship forward.

Sora scratched his head sheepishly, despite the fact that neither of the other guys could hear his thoughts. He didn't want to get ahead of himself thinking that Kairi held him in a higher regard than any of her other guy friends. Sure, they'd gotten close, not to mention shared more than a handful of kisses, but assuming that she liked him in some kind of affectionate way seemed almost presumptuous of him. After all, she had been pretty clear that the kisses were some form of oddly platonic teasing, and that she was not opposed to doing so with other strangers if both parties were for it.

"But, man, I tell you, for her first time, Xion sure knows how to–"

Sora smirked at his timing to tune back into the conversation. Realistically, it probably would have ended up this way regardless of when he tuned back in, but that didn't make it any less amusing or typical.

"And that, men," Riku wrapped up his story, "is how we both enjoyed a very _white _Christmas."

"Uh, didn't you say this happened a week ago?" Roxas jeered.

"Yeah, so?"

"Christmas in July?"

"It was a metaphor."

"You're stretching it a bit."

"I probably stretched her a bit, too."

"…I can only imagine what Xion would do if she heard any part of what you just said."

"Get turned on, I bet."

"I'm just gonna cut in here for a sec," Sora interrupted before Roxas could say anything else. "Riku, you said Kairi had to tell you when we're going, right?"

He nodded. "I'm still not telling you, buddy."

"Yeah, I already knew that. Can you at least tell me how long we're going for so I can grab enough clothes?"

Riku pushed his shades up onto his forehead and scratched his head in thought. "I guess it's not a huge deal. It's either five days or a week, I can't remember exactly, but I think I told my boss a week so he wouldn't schedule me. She told me she was going to kidnap you and grab your clothes for you though."

Sora let out a wry chuckle and leaned forward on his knees. "Knowing her, she'll be too excited to think about what she's grabbing and just stuff a whole bunch of shirts into my bag. I'd rather not go on a trip with one pair of underwear and shorts."

"Heh, maybe that's just a really literal way of her telling you to get in her pants."

"That still wouldn't change the fact that I need more than one pair of underwear." Turning from Riku for a second, Sora glanced at his brother. "Just wondering, when Kairi busts in through our door, are you just gonna let her kidnap me? I know Naminé isn't going to try it on you, so it's really a matter of Kairi going wild by herself."

Roxas grinned and rubbed his chin. "I plan on filming the whole thing. I told Naminé to film it too, so both our hands'll be full."

"You're a real lifesaver…"

The more the guys started talking about the trip, the more Sora realized just how psyched up he was getting for it. He hadn't been on a trip since he was a kid, so to suddenly get the chance to go on a tropical vacation with the girl he kind of had a thing for was more than a little awesome; it was totally badass!

For the rest of the day, the boys ended up hanging out and relaxing in the apartment instead of going out, which wasn't really a bad thing since they hadn't planned anything else. By the time Roxas started prepping things for dinner, Sora and Riku were lazing about in the brunet's bedroom.

"Hey, mind if I ask something?" Sora asked as he threw some clothes into a large duffel bag.

"Shoot."

He hesitated for a moment, but figured that he might as well ask since he'd already brought it up. "Don't take this the wrong way or anything, but I was sort of wondering…how things with Xion are going."

Riku snorted and started laughing, rolling into a sitting position from how he had been lying on the bed previously. "Really, man? No need to get all worked up asking about that. Things are fine. Why?"

Sora shook his head and turned towards his best friend. "I wasn't asking casually – I'd have asked when we were still with Roxas if that's how I meant it. What I mean is that…well, how _are_ things?"

"Heh, uh, you lost me, Sora." Riku still had his typical smile, so it was apparent that he really didn't understand what Sora was getting at. That or things really were going great.

"How should I put this…?" Sora mumbled as he folded a shirt in his hands. "It's like…you guys seem to fight a lot more than when you weren't actually dating, y'know?"

As expected, Riku's smile faded a bit, and the silver-haired teen crossed his arms and nodded in an introspective way. Prompted to continue, Sora did so.

"I'm not saying I think you guys should take a step back or anything, but…have you noticed the way you guys have sort of changed? Before it was all playful bickering, but now…"

He trailed off as he suddenly began to feel a bit condescending. Riku didn't seem to be taking it that way, as he simply continued to look introspective. Sora didn't have the right to question others' relationships anyway; it wasn't like he had any firsthand experience or success to base some kind of advice off of, so this current situation only served to make him feel the exact opposite of conscientious.

"Sorry…" he muttered out. Surprisingly, Riku simply shrugged and readopted his normal demeanour.

"Don't apologize, man," Riku chuckled. "At least you're looking out for me, right? From a guy who has dating experience to one who doesn't, let me explain how I see this thing right now."

Sora smirked, allowing the lighter mood to get the better of him. "Dating experience? As far as I know, Xion's your first real girlfriend."

"Buddy, what are you saying? I've had loads of girlfriends!"

"I think it takes more than calling a girl back to make her a girlfriend."

"Hey, isn't anything more than a one-night-stand considered a girlfriend?"

"No, but it does make you a scumbag for leading them on."

"Heh, you know what, I'll let that one go since you're probably just looking for advice about your own girl problems." Riku laid back down on the bed and put his hands behind his head. "Anyway, let's see… For Xion and me, I think arguing and all that are just what come naturally. You said it yourself, we always used to bicker before we were actually a couple, and that was kind of like our normal back-and-forth. I wouldn't say that's changed much, just that there's more to fight about."

"Isn't that a bad thing?"

"It should be, but it's not something that'll kill us. She knew perfectly well what I'm like going into the relationship, so it'd be stupid of her to think that I was going to suddenly change as soon as we started going out for real. To be fair, I know that it bothers her, so I've been toning it down, at least when I'm with her."

"That's a start, I suppose."

"Hey, better than me completely ignoring how she feels, right? Anyway, the thing about our fighting is that it's one of those ways we can communicate easily. That might seem pretty screwed up from the outside, but, at least for me, the messages get across easier when we're bickering about silly little things, and that way it lets us blow off steam so that we can avoid any big fights over those dumb little things. What I'm saying is that we know what each other are saying based on how genuinely annoyed or mad we get, instead of what we're actually saying to each other, if that makes any sense."

Sora took a moment to process that in his head, but the thought just wasn't clicking. He thought he sort of understood part of it, but the more he let Riku's logic sink in, the harder it became to comprehend it. Rather than wallowing in the thought for too long, Sora just shrugged and let him continue.

"The point is that we fight, and it's more normal for us than it would be for other people. I don't doubt that we'll probably get into an actual big fight later on, but for now what we have works pretty well for us."

"So, you're saying you're not worried about possibly doing something that'll lead into a big fight?"

"It's not that; it's more like every couple gets into a big fight at some point, so I'm hoping that if it's going to happen, I'd rather have it happen sooner than later."

"Couldn't it possibly end with you guys breaking up if it's too early on? I mean, I'd assume that if you were together for a while, then just the fact that you've been together for so long would be a factor in not letting you guys split."

Riku was quiet for a moment, staring blankly at the plain white ceiling. Sora quietly continued to fold his clothes and pack them away, though he was diligently waiting for some kind of answer from his friend. Riku's way of thinking was so much different than his own, yet he could mostly understand it as long as he got into the right mindset. The biggest surprise was how much Riku must have thought about this on his own. He'd probably have just laughed and brushed it aside if he hadn't already given it any.

"Honestly," Riku said quietly, "breaking up doesn't scare me that much."

Sora stopped and gave a confused yet intrigued look to the guy lying on his bed. Riku wasn't the first guy he thought of when he heard "stable relationship", but even a guy like him had to have reservations about messing something like this up. For him to answer in such a way, he would need some pretty good reasoning to back it up.

"If Xion and I got in a fight that made us break up this early on, I think I'd rather let it happen than try to fight to stay together. Hopefully this doesn't make me sound like an asshole, but it's too early to say if I'm really serious about her or not. I mean, if you think about it, she and I have only been together for about a month. Even if you count all that crap before we were actually together, it'd still only be two or three months since then. I don't think you can really call a relationship serious until you've passed the six-month mark."

"Would you actually be _okay_ with breaking up, though?"

"Not okay, just…accepting of it. Think about it, if something could push us that far when we should still be really into each other, then I doubt we'd last later on when all the initial feelings and junk have died down a bit. Besides, it's so early into this that I don't think either of us can say for sure that we're serious about the other."

"Didn't she have sex with you?"

"So?"

"And it was her first time?"

"Yeah, what's your point?"

Sora sighed, truly baffled that Riku didn't seem to understand the concept of how important that must be. "I'm saying that she must be pretty serious if she was willing to go that far after just a month of officially dating you."

"So, a bunch of those other girls in the past did it the same night they met me."

"That's…a different thing altogether. I really don't think any of them were trying to have a meaningful relationship with you, and, not that I want to generalize, but it probably wasn't any of their first times. Didn't you make sure your first time was meaningful?"

"…Was I supposed to?"

"Dude, you have the emotional range of a teaspoon."

"Harry Potter reference?"

"What? No! Geez, you always pick the most random times to show your inner geek."

Riku laughed and sat up, tossing Sora's pillow at him when he wasn't expecting it. "I think that's enough heart-to-heart brotalk for one day, man. Don't really know what spawned all of that, but take whatever you want out of that and use it to bag Kairi, okay?"

Before Sora could say anything more, Riku was already out of his bedroom and heading into the kitchen where it seemed like Roxas was almost done cooking. Shaking his head, the brunet shoved one more pair of shorts into his bag and followed his best friend. He wasn't completely sure what he had taken away from that whole conversation, but somehow he felt like it had been important, so he was content simply to have had it.

キングダムハーツキングダムハーツキングダムハーツ

"Ugh, this place is gonna be sooo boring when you and Kairi are gone!" Shiki whined as the four o'clock bell chimed.

"Heh, don't say that," Sora chuckled as he stapled some papers together. "Aren't Neku and Joshua working a little more while we're gone?"

Shiki puffed up her cheeks and leaned on the counter in a rather unbecoming fashion. "Only a little; Mr. the Wise said that your company is sending some more temps over to replace you guys for a bit anyway."

"Is that so?"

Sora stole a glance to the redhead at the concierge desk as she enthusiastically spoke to a large group of foreign guests. It was now the end of the week and he had yet to be kidnapped, so he could only imagine that it would take place some time before Monday of next week.

"So, do you, like, know who's replacing you while you're gone?" Shiki stole his attention back.

Sora stopped to think for a minute, but he hadn't actually asked Axel who might be getting sent over. In fact, he didn't even realize they would be getting temps to come in to replace them, though it made sense since the whole reason he was here was because they were understaffed.

"Maybe…Vivi? He'd be my first guess."

"Ooh, what's he like? Can I be the same around him as I am with you? Is he hot?"

"Uh…well, I've never said more than a few words to him… You probably can't treat him the same way as me. Actually, you're lucky that you have so many people you can treat this way in the workplace."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Nothing, nothing, settle down. Anyway, Vivi always covers his face, and he's really short, so I doubt you're gonna have much fun standing around with him."

Shiki deflated and flopped onto the counter again. "Work's no fun if all I do is work all day."

"Heh, I think you picked the wrong line of work to go into."

Shiki continued to whine as Sora went back to organizing the papers he'd been stapling. Stealing another glance upwards, he noticed Kairi waving politely to the large group of guests she'd just been helping. Once they had exited the building, she promptly slumped back in her chair, glanced at him, and pretended to shoot herself in the head with her fingers. A moment later, his computer screen opened up the instant messaging window.

_Concierge Desk: I don't want to sound racist, but trying to explain things to people that know, like, three words of English is the worst._

Sora grinned, able to empathize with her since he'd also had to deal with a fair number of non-English speakers since coming here. It came as quite the surprise when he discovered that Shiki was fairly fluent in a handful of languages, as he never would have pegged her for the type that would want to learn all of those. Then again, her unconditional love of conversation was unmatched, so learning more languages would allow her to talk to even more people…

_Concierge Desk: Are you free after work today? It's been a little while since we last hung out._

_Reception 2: Don't we hang out every day?_

_Concierge Desk: Work doesn't count as hanging out! Come on, pleeeeaaase?_

He laughed and looked up to see Kairi with her bottom lip pushed out and a sad puppy dog look. Not wanting to push her too far, he laughed again and sent her a response saying that he didn't have any plans. She reacted just as he thought she might, dancing around a bit with a silly grin stretched along her face.

"Ooh, looks like someone's gonna get some later," Shiki giggled mischievously. Sora groaned as he looked at her, but his unimpressed look did nothing to faze her.

It didn't feel too long before the six o'clock bell tolled, and the daytime staff took it as their cue to switch with their nighttime counterparts. Sora said goodbye to Neku as he exited the changing room and stood in the lobby while he waited for Kairi to meet him. Bouncing on his heels, he wondered if her earlier excitement meant that she wanted to do something, or if she was simply overreacting to his willingness to spend time with her.

"Anxious for your private after-work activities?"

Sora jumped as Shiki's voice sounded uncomfortably close to his ear. Whirling around, she was laughing with that usual teasing look on her face.

"Come on, you know we're not d-doing anything like that." He mentally cursed as his lips stuttered on their own. "More importantly, how come you haven't changed? You're not planning on working longer, are you?"

"No choice," the strawberry-haired girl sighed. "I came in an hour late a couple days ago because of a doctor's appointment. Gotta make it up or Neku's gonna get mad at me for not splitting the rent fairly."

"Are you really cutting it that close? If one hour's pay is going to give you enough to pay your rent, you must buy a lot of other stuff."

"Heehee, what can I say? I like clothes."

Sora could only give a wry chuckle and send Neku a sympathetic smile from across the counter. He had no idea how Kairi spent her money, but he could already hear her saying something equally as outrageous when they had to deal with things like this. Well, at least when _she _did, as he had been dealing with these sorts of things since he and Roxas had gotten their own apartment.

"Hey, sorry to keep you waiting!" Kairi called to him as she ran over from the women's changing room.

"No probl– Whoa!"

Caught completely off guard, Sora was surprised that he didn't fall flat on his face as Kairi grabbed his wrist and whizzed towards the exit. Before he could ask her what the rush was, he needed to catch his balance, which wasn't as easy as he was hoping it would be. How did she manage to run this quickly while he was stumbling like a drunken clown?

"Whew, we made it in time!" Kairi cheered breathily as she practically threw Sora onto the tram's seat.

Trying to catch his breath and make his legs stop shaking, the brunet ran a hand through his hair before turning to the hyped-up redhead.

"W-What the hell was that all about?!" he huffed, gulping in air and leaning back on the seat.

"Whoa, no need to get all angry, Sora," the redhead laughed, using her thumbs to push his cheeks up into a forced smile. "We caught the tram, didn't we?"

"The tram doesn't leave for another ten minutes. Look around!"

She cocked her head to the side but followed his instruction. Almost everyone at the tram depot was heading to another tram or heading for the train, and the few that were already seated before them were giving the couple a wide variety of strange looks. Once she'd had a good look around, Kairi turned back to him and bonked herself on the head.

"Ehehe, well, getting here early is better than missing it because we were late, right?"

Sora simply smacked his face with his hand and did what he could to make the two of them less conspicuous.

"Where did you want to rush off to so badly, anyway?" he asked.

Kairi blinked at him and lightly bopped his forehead with her palm. "Where else, silly? The secret place, of course."

"Oh, of course. It's not like we're the only two that know about it or would even think to go up there for fun. I am _so _thankful you rushed us over here so we could beat all the competition."

"Aww, is widdle Sowa in a baaad mood? Heehee, I know what'll make you feel better."

In an instant, Kairi clapped her hands onto his cheeks and pulled his face towards hers so that their lips were pressed firmly against each other's. Though he did feel quite a bit of tension leave his body as she slowly pulled away from him, his displeasure with the whole situation remained true.

"Better?" she asked sweetly.

"Y-You shouldn't just do that," he grumbled. "At least not in public; it causes a scene."

"Mm, this won't do. You're still mad. Looks like you need a bigger helping of Doctor Kairi's stress-relief medicine."

"No, w–"

Her timing certainly was impeccable, as she managed to catch his lips right on the 'W' of "wait". Trying his best to keep a cool head, Sora did not struggle against her, as it would only make this into a bigger scene (not to mention that she would probably just kiss him again if he tried to get away). After about five or six seconds of having his lips forcibly squished against hers, she pulled away, her face looking fairly red.

"Wow, you know, you're really warm when you get mad," she giggled, fanning herself with her hands to take the redness away.

"Thanks, I'm not mad anymore, so don't do that again," he said in his best attempt to mask any remaining anger in his voice.

"Oh, too bad, it was just starting to get good, too!"

Sora couldn't help glancing around at the other people on the tram. With only five minutes until it left, there were quite a few people now, and it seemed that most of them were either blatantly avoiding to look at the two of them or were just as blatantly sending disapproving looks their way.

"But you know, Sora," Kairi continued, "your kissing technique hasn't gotten any better since the first time. You should really figure that out."

"Sorry that you always catch me off guard. Besides, it's not like I ever return any of them."

"Ah, how rude! My fragile maiden heart is breaking!"

"I don't typically associate you with fragile maidens."

"And to think that I gave my first kiss to you. My virgin lips were tainted by your lustful mouth!"

"H-Hey, keep it down, will you? _You_ were the one that kissed _me _that night, remember? Besides, I hardly imagine that was your first kiss."

"Heehee, of course it wasn't, but that doesn't mean you didn't like it as if it were."

"…Huh? What does that even mean?"

"I don't know, but it sounded funny in my head. Anyway, I get the privilege of saying I stole your first kiss, don't I?"

Sora blushed and slouched down in his seat. He shouldn't feel emasculated over something as trivial as a kiss. It didn't mean anything; he had probably kissed some girl in kindergarten and forgot about it anyway. That's what all kids do…at least, that's what he wanted to convince himself they did.

"Aww, don't worry, I'll make sure you don't kiss any other girls then, okay, Sora? You'll have pure, unadulterated lip action from now on."

Kairi certainly seemed to be having a ton of fun at his expense.

"What are you saying?" He figured that playing along couldn't make this situation worse than it already was. "Are you going to stop me from ever getting even a little bit close to another girl?"

There was a gleam in the redhead's eye when she realized that he was actually going to play along. "You bet your bottom! I'm like your protective guardian, and I'm going to make sure that your lips are untainted for the rest of your life. The only girl's lips you'll ever experience are mine! Boys…well, if you really want to, I guess I can let that happen."

"…What exactly made you think that I would ever resort to kissing guys if I wasn't allowed to kiss girls?"

"Well, Shiki told me that this one time when I wasn't there Roxas made you a really yummy-smelling lunch and had Naminé bring it to you, and then she said–"

"Oh for the love of… He's my brother!"

"Heehee, it's just like some terrible soap opera!"

The brunet didn't even bother to check all the strange looks they were getting, instead opting for leaning forward onto his knees so that he could hide his face from the world. If there were ever a time that he regretted going along with one of Kairi's crazy, runaway conversation trains, it was this one.

The tram started to bump along its track, and as the redhead continued to pester him, Sora could already tell that it would be a long trip to the secret place.

キングダムハーツキングダムハーツキングダムハーツ

"Ugh, I still can't believe that Demy told us to leave and locked the ladder in place!"

"Well, considering the bar was closed, it doesn't surprise me that he would lock up the roof as well."

"Yeah, but your place isn't anywhere near as fun as our secret place!"

"…Thank you for pointing out that my apartment is less fun than a roof."

After spending a few hours on the roof of _Jazz Corner X_, Demyx informed them that he was closing up early and that he couldn't leave the entrance to the roof unlocked. Despite Kairi's attempts to allow them to stay, he wasn't caving in the slightest (though he did promise that he would cut a key for Kairi sometime in the future). After that, she suggested they hang out at Sora's, and while he didn't mind, he found it slightly amusing that she was complaining about having to be here instead of there.

Despite her gripes about the secret place, the two of them did more or less what they always did: talk about anything and everything that came to mind. Kairi's topic of interest for tonight seemed to be what would have happened if they didn't get separated for five months after meeting each other. Realistically, Sora couldn't imagine things being much different, though he did think that, assuming his feelings for the redhead developed at the same rate they had over these past two months, he might have had the courage to ask her out after graduation. Of course, that was hypothetical, and he had no idea if that logic would still apply after knowing her for that same amount of time now.

The door opened and Roxas stepped in. "Oh, hey, Kairi. Long time no see. You here to kidnap us?"

"Heehee, not yet. Even if I was going to, it wouldn't have worked unless you were here too."

"I guess, but I was with Naminé a little while ago, so she could've kidnapped me there if you had gotten Sora."

"Mm, I'll save that trick for another time."

"I thought you didn't have work today," Sora said as Roxas opened the fridge.

"I was just at Hayner's place with the usual group," he answered plainly. "Probably would've come back later, but he said he had something to do tomorrow."

"Oh, did Nami give you a ride back?" Kairi asked. "It's kind of late, so if she's still here, I should see if she can drive me home."

"Yeah, I think she said she was picking up something from a friend who lives in the building too. She's probably just waiting down in the roundabout."

"I'll walk you down," Sora said, getting to his feet as Kairi hurried towards the door.

When they got to the bottom floor, a big seven-seater SUV was waiting out front, just like Roxas said. Sora couldn't suppress a chuckle at the sight of the petite girl sitting behind the wheel of such a vehicle. The blonde girl noticed them and waved as they stepped out the entrance doors to the building.

Kairi let out a random but contented laugh when they stepped beside the car. Turning around, she suddenly wrapped Sora in a strong hug. Though he wasn't opposed to her hugging him in front of people, the suddenness caught him by surprise.

"You know, Sora," she giggled into his ear, "you being the gentleman that you are and walking me down really makes this a whole lot easier for us."

"Haha, um, your welcome? But what are you–"

"DON'T MOVE, ASSHOLE! YOU'RE COMING WITH US!"

That was definitely Riku's voice, but before Sora could figure out where it had come from, Kairi shoved him towards the back of the SUV with a laugh. Stumbling off balance, he watched as the back door flew open. The only thing he managed to see was a flash of Riku's silver hair before a potato sack was thrown over his head and torso. The opening immediately fastened so that he couldn't move his arms. Disoriented and still rather confused, Sora couldn't fight back as he felt Riku pick him up and stuff him into the backseat of the car.

"Alright, did Roxas leave the door unlocked?" Riku's voice asked Kairi outside the car.

"Yep, he's all yours!"

About five minutes later, Sora felt another person get stuffed into the seat beside him, and he could only assume it was his brother in a matching potato sack.

"You kids sleep tight," Riku laughed as he and Kairi got into the car. "We're picking up Xion and then heading off. Oh man, I told you this kidnapping was gonna be more fun than letting you know when we were coming."

As the group of kidnappers and the kidnapped brothers headed off towards Xion's house, Sora nudged his brother in the leg.

"Hey, Roxas?"

"What?"

"Next time you tell me I take Kairi too seriously, I'm gonna punch you in the stomach."

* * *

Hopefully the ending didn't seem rushed. I rewrote it a few times trying not to drag anything out, but I also feel like a lot of things happened in a short span of time. There wasn't really anything I wanted to cover between Sora and Kairi hanging out, which is why I ended up skipping to when she was going to leave.

Anyway, it took me a while to write but it's finally here! One thing I noticed about previous chapters is that I was using the terms money and munny interchangeably. From now on (assuming I can remember to do so), munny is the form of currency and money is just the term for cash in general. I may go back and fix that at some point so that the past chapters have that all right.

Thanks to **The Master of Chaos, WitsWithMe, lordibau, Malcolm Yuy, **and **Painted With a Palette** for reviewing! Also a big thanks to everyone that gave their input about the relationships thing! It's great when people give me actual feedback when I ask questions instead the usual "Nice chapter, update soon."

Thanks for reading and please review!

–_GengaJupite_


	12. Next Destination

Hey, what do you know, I've got a week off from school! Sorry again for the month-long wait. I know that's the 2394238409283409235479263rd time I've said it, but I really do feel bad whenever I put off these updates. I'm hoping that my writing style hasn't deteriorated or changed much in my absence but I guess we won't know until I start writing!

Anyway, as a sort of apology, this chapter is longer than usual and will hopefully tickle your fancy :)

Note: In my KH AUs, I refer to Radiant Garden and Hollow Bastion like the respective rich and poor districts of the overall place that is Radiant Garden.

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one

* * *

_Next Destination_

Sora awoke to the sound of a foghorn bellowing deeply from somewhere above him. His senses were rather dull, but he could still make out the scent of ocean faintly creeping into his nostrils. Slightly cracking his eyes open, everything was dark and a bit blurry. With a yawn, the brunet tried to bring his hand up to wipe the sleep from his eyes.

And it was then that he realized his arms couldn't move.

Sighing deeply in aggravation, he blinked rapidly to clear his vision and lifted his head to see that he was still inside the potato sack he had been stuffed into the other night. Recalling what had happened after his friends had kidnapped him, they had arrived at one of the kidnappers' houses and…well, considering he was still in the sack even now Sora wasn't exactly sure what they had all gotten up to. Judging by the slight smell that permeated through the dankness of this potato sack, as well as the foghorn that woke him up, he could only assume they were by the water.

"Hey! Riku! Kairi!" he called out as the heat from his breath and the sack began to increase. "If you're there, you can let me out now! This can't possibly still be funny!"

"Don't bother, Sora," Roxas's muffled voice grumbled from somewhere beside him. "I woke up while they were still here and they said they'd take these things off after they came back with breakfast."

Sora sighed, not particularly concerned with what they were doing so long as they would take this thing off of him soon. "How long ago did they leave?"

"If I could check my watch, I would know… I would guess around ten minutes but it's possible that it's only been something like two and I'm just anxious to get out of here."

"Ooh, I'm gonna freaking _kill_ Riku when they get back here!"

Sora jumped in surprise from the third voice that came from somewhere in front of where Roxas was presumably seated. There was definitely no mistaking who that was.

"Xion? Did they kidnap you too?" he asked somewhat rhetorically.

Though he couldn't see her, Sora could already imagine the raven-haired girl writhing around to get out of her own potato sack, which was quite the contrast to how he and Roxas had more or less accepted the fact that they were being kidnapped and sat quietly in the back seat of the vehicle.

"Do you even need to ask?" she growled. "I was supposed to be in on the whole kidnapping plan, and then next thing I know Riku zip-ties my hands and blindfolds me. He's just so…so… Gah, I'll kill him!"

Considering she admitted to being in on the kidnapping, the level of sympathy she received from the two brothers was quite low. However, because of that Sora could understand why it also made her kidnapping that much more irritating. Either way, at least she hadn't been stuffed into a restricting sack and kept in it for the past eight or more hours.

The sound of car doors being unlocked sounded all around them, and it was only moments after that one of the front doors opened, coupled by a trio of carefree voices.

"Oh, looks like you guys are awa–"

"**RIKU, YOU DUMB PIECE OF–**" Xion cut off her boyfriend by screaming countless obscenities. If not for the circumstances of being in a sack, Sora might have laughed at the colourful vocabulary Xion was using. "**LET ME GO RIGHT NOW OR I SWEAR I'LL BREAK UP WITH YOU!**"

Though muffled through the sack, Sora could easily pick out the poorly stifled giggles of a certain redhead. Due to his current lack of vision, it was hard to tell if the situation was tense because of Xion's outburst or even more hilarious for the three kidnappers. Regardless, the silence (aside from Kairi's laughter) that was ensuing did nothing to help him analyze the situation.

"…I second Xion's sentiments." Roxas's voice was so meek that Kairi apparently could not restrain herself any longer, bursting out in a huge fit of laughter.

The next few minutes were spent being awkwardly maneuvered out of the car they were in and released from their restraints. Sora squinted at the sudden brightness that met his eyes. As he glanced around with his limited vision, he could not seem to figure out where they were. There were cars all around the immediate area, making it appear as though they were in some kind of underground parking lot.

The ground lurched as another foghorn bellowed, causing the brunet to stumble and lean on the side of the vehicle for support.

"Are we…on a boat?" he asked as Kairi helped steady him.

"Haha, took you long enough to figure it out," she laughed.

"Considering I was stuffed in a bag until about a minute ago, I wouldn't say it took me that long."

Sora glanced over to see how Roxas was faring. Naminé was currently apologizing in a rather amused but embarrassed sort of fashion. Roxas, of course, didn't seem to mind, though he looked like he was still trying to find his balance. Riku, on the other hand, was doing what he could to quell the angry complaints that Xion was relentlessly machine-gunning at him. With both couples standing right by each other, the contrast was rather amusing.

"So why exactly are we on a boat?" Sora asked as he turned back to Kairi.

"Mm, mostly to save money," she said, handing him a muffin and a juice box she had apparently purchased for him. "Plane tickets are kind of pricey. The ferry will take until tomorrow to get there, but it was way cheaper. You should be grateful that we paid for your ticket!"

"Heh, I am, I am. I suppose that should make up for the whole kidnapping thing."

Kairi grinned. While the others sorted through their things (Sora was extremely relieved to see the bag he'd packed along with the others), the redhead pulled him along out of the parking area and up to the main deck of the ship. Despite the fact that he knew they were on a boat, the idea that he was really going on a trip with this bundle of energy didn't sink in until they emerged on the deck and watched as the Twilight Town dock slowly but steadily diminished in size.

"Hey, hey, look who they finally let out," someone said from behind and slung their arm over Sora's shoulder. He looked up to see none other than Axel grinning as he gazed out at the rippling water.

"Yeah, thanks for being a great boss and helping me out back there," Sora snorted.

"Eh, I'm not your boss for the next week, kid. Besides, the little princess here wouldn't let me get anywhere near you even if I wanted to."

"Makes sense; I can only imagine how she threatened you not to."

"Trust me, I could lose my job over something like that, and I'm the freaking business owner!"

Kairi made a face at her brother and somewhat aggressively pulled Sora away from him. "C'mon, Sora, let's see if we can find everyone else!"

"W-Wait a second." He stumbled along as she rushed him away from where Axel was. She didn't slow until they were on one of the upper decks, allowing Sora to take a moment to catch his breath. "Geez, you know you can't just monopolize me like that."

"Aww, why not?" she pouted. "I thought you were all mine for this trip!"

"I don't remember making any sort of agreement like that…"

"Are you saying you'd rather spend your time with Axel than with me?"

"No, I just…never mind."

Unable to think of a suitable way to segue into something else to talk about, Sora followed the bubbly redhead as she skipped along the inner sections of the ferry. He didn't need to feed the fires of enmity between the Lea siblings, so it seemed best to drop the subject for now.

From the way she would stop and look at the directory signs every time they passed under one, the spiky-haired teen could only imagine where it was that Kairi was leading him; knowing how she was, though, it wouldn't be too farfetched to think that she was wandering aimlessly to mess with him. That or she was exploring the boat, though he wondered why someone might feel the need to explore a ferry. It felt like quite some time before she finally stopped and turned towards him.

"Found them!" she cheered, gesturing for Sora to hurry up. She disappeared through a doorway before he could catch up to her.

"Arcade, huh?" he mumbled as he read the neon sign above the darkened room. As he glanced inside, he could see Kairi making her way over to a group of people that, upon closer inspection against the flashing lights of the arcade, were surprisingly familiar.

"Yo, Sora!" Hayner called as he waved a plastic gun. He and Roxas were getting ready to start shooting zombies while Pence, Olette, Naminé, and now Kairi were groaning over the impossibility of a claw game.

"Ah, I was so close that time!" Olette whined as the claw mockingly dropped the stuffed moogle back into the pile of plushies. "Oh, hey, Sora. I didn't expect to see you here."

"Heh, I was just about to say the same thing to you guys," he said as Pence took his turn at the impossible machine. "I guess it makes sense since you're friends with Naminé though."

"And me!" Kairi interjected. "If it weren't for me, Nami wouldn't have even met them!"

"Yeah, yeah, your benevolence knows no bounds." The redhead promptly stomped on Sora's foot, clearly not appreciating his sarcasm.

"Anyway, now that we're all here, we can finally play some of the games I had planned!" Kairi announced. No one responded right away, as these games could either be a good or bad thing.

"What about Riku and Xion?" Roxas asked without looking away from the horde of zombies approaching him from the screen. "Shouldn't we let them know?"

"Ugh, we can play without them; they're probably having make-up sex or something right now."

Though Sora felt that it would have been the right thing to do to defend his friend against Kairi's comment, he simply couldn't, as he and apparently everyone else were almost certain that that was exactly what the couple was doing right now.

In one quick motion, Kairi pulled out a small stack of folded papers from the back pocket of her shorts along with what looked like a small bundle of popsicle sticks. Her mischievous smile did little to quell any nerves Sora had about seeing what kind of game she had cooked up.

"Game number one!" She then paused for what would seem to be a dramatic effect, though Roxas and Hayner were too preoccupied with shooting their virtual predators to pay her much heed. "Scavenger hunt!"

Sora and the three others who actually were paying attention to her exhaled aloud, relieving themselves of any stress that had built up from imagining worse things she could have picked. While they weren't exactly out of the danger zone just yet, knowing that their game was just a scavenger hunt got rid of a huge number of infinitely worse activities she could have picked.

"The rules are easy!" she stated. "Whoever finishes first gets to make whoever finishes last do any one thing! …Except for jumping off the boat or something stupid like that."

"I think you're the only one who would even think to make someone jump off the boat," Hayner laughed as his game ended.

"It'll be more fun if we pair up, I think," Kairi continued, ignoring Hayner's remark. "I didn't make enough lists for anyone, anyway."

"Does someone have to go on their own, then?" Naminé asked, noting that there were an odd number of people in their current group.

"Hmm…uh…" Thankfully for Kairi, her solution just so happened to poke his head into the arcade at that very moment. "Ooh, Demy, come here quick!"

"C-Can it wait?" he asked while squirming on the spot. "I was actually just looking for a washr–"

"No, it can't wait!" She ignored his pleas and merrily dragged the mulleted man over to their group. "There, now we have eight! Let me just count out these sticks…aaaand there we go! Pair up with whoever gets the same colour as you!"

Everyone somewhat hesitantly reached for a stick in Kairi's hand. Once he'd chosen his, Sora checked his stick to reveal a blue-coloured bottom.

"Alright, who got a green one?!" Kairi excitedly glanced at everyone's popsicle sticks and was the first to find her partner. "Haha, Hayner, we're going to finish first no matter what!"

"Well, duh," he laughed, giving her a high-five.

Sora cursed his luck that the two most enthusiastic people happened to get paired up together. They were almost guaranteed to win, assuming the things that needed to be found were relatively simple. At the very least, they wouldn't come in last, which meant that he would have to try really hard not to lest he be on the receiving end of Kairi's victory punishment. She teased him enough as it was already.

"Looks like we're together, Sora," Naminé said softly, holding up her matching blue-ended stick.

"Heh, let's make sure not to lose," he chuckled sheepishly. "Kairi probably knows exactly how she wants to punish us if we do."

"Okay, now that everyone's paired up, you can look at your list but no one can go until that racing game finishes its movie sequence!" Said game ended on an appropriately loud "3, 2, 1, Go!", making it ideal for this situation.

With that, the redhead eagerly shoved a piece of paper into Naminé, Demyx, and Roxas's hands. Each one of them unfolded their papers to see what was on their respective lists. Kairi and Hayner laughed and high-fived again, Roxas passed the paper to Pence and scratched his head, and Demyx said something to Olette about grabbing the toilet paper while he went to the washroom.

"U-Uh, does everyone else's list look like this?" Naminé asked nervously. Sora had been looking at the others, so it wasn't until he looked at his and Naminé's list that he could see why the blonde was asking in such a manner.

"H-Hey, Kairi, what the hell is up with this list?!" he growled.

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"What do you mean what do I mean? Everything on this looks weird and sex-related!"

The redhead tilted her head for a moment, but it wasn't long before a grin formed on her face, quickly bubbling into a fit of giggles. Hayner eagerly strode over to get a look at their list, and his reaction quickly mirrored his partner's.

"Condoms, some kind of oil or lotion, a rope, a speedo, a thong, a bra or lingerie, a cucumber, duct tape, a blindfold, and chocolate syrup. Haha, man, I'm glad I didn't end up on your team!"

In his annoyance, Sora snatched Hayner's list from him to see what kinds of things were on it. After scanning through all the items, he angrily glowered at Kairi and held the two lists up side by side.

"How did you even come up with these?! Your stuff is all completely normal!"

"H-Hey, do you even…heehee…realize how hard it'll be for us to find a textbook?"

The brunet opened his mouth to argue more, but realizing the futility of doing so he only exhaled aggressively and handed the enthusiastic pair back their sheet. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the other four doing their best not to seem amused by the situation, but it wasn't hard to figure out what their curled lips and tongue-biting were indicative of.

Before he knew it, the racing game had already finished its countdown. Kairi and Hayner took off in a frenzy of laughter and excitement, leaving the rest of them behind. Demyx was quick to follow, if only so he could finally go to the washroom, while the rest of the group walked out in a more composed and orderly fashion.

"Just a thought," Roxas mumbled to Sora and Naminé, "you'll probably find at least a few of those things if you go through Riku and Xion's stuff."

"That's assuming they didn't take it with them when they went to do their business," the brunet sighed in response. Sadly enough, his first thought upon seeing the list _was_ to go through his best friend's belongings.

His brother shrugged and waved them off as he and Pence headed in the same direction Olette had gone. Sora took another glance at the list and promptly folded it back up before leading the way back to the parking area.

"You know, I would've thought you'd have gotten used to these kinds of things by now," Naminé chuckled as they made their way down a stairwell. "You and Kairi spend a lot of time together, don't you?"

"Being used to it and being okay with it are two completely different things," he complained, though a wry smile crept its way onto his lips. "She's a real handful though. I'm surprised you've managed to put up with her since childhood; I can barely keep up after a few months!"

"Hehe, most of the time I just let her do whatever she feels like. Whenever I tried to make her settle down, she always got more excited about whatever it was she was trying to do."

"Heh, sounds like her, all right; easy to excite and easier to get more fired up. I guess I've just been rolling with the punches too."

Sora hadn't really had a chance to speak properly with Naminé before, so he was surprised to find that she wasn't nearly as shy as she had often come across in the short time he'd known her. They laughed about Kairi's quirks all the way until the car, but were forced to stop when they found the redhead sticking a coat hanger into the blonde's vehicle while her enthusiastic partner kept watch.

"Uh…" Sora began when they approached the SUV. "What are you guys doing?"

Kairi jumped in surprise, but her face lit up the moment she realized who had just spoken. "Geez, Sora, you scared the crap out of me! Hayner, weren't you supposed to be looking out to make sure no one thought we were breaking into the car?!"

"Yeah, but I figured since this is Nam's car, she wouldn't think you were some random burglar. And she has the keys, so…"

The brunet groaned and slapped a hand to his forehead while Naminé simply giggled a bit and clicked the unlock button on her car keys.

"Heehee, so what are you guys trying to find in here?" Kairi asked as she began rummaging through her bag.

"Just checking to see if Riku has any of this stuff," Sora stated plainly, relieved to find the familiar bag adorned with decorative Triforce and Reaper pins.

"Ooh, that's smart! I didn't even think about that when I made that list; I just wanted there to be one unlucky list mixed into the regular ones."

"And was it completely coincidental that you _happened_ to give it to me while you _happened_ to get paired with the only other person that's just as eager to win as you?"

"Aww, don't be such a pessimist, Sora; we won't make you do anything _too_ embarrassing!"

They continued their banter for a good while as they searched through the bags. Sora was quick to find the condoms in Riku's bag but it appeared as though Naminé would have to go through her own belongings if they were to find any of the other things. He hated to ask her to search for some of the somewhat more risqué items, but they didn't really have much of a choice. When all was said and done, they'd surprisingly managed to cross condoms, lotion, a bra, a thong, a blindfold, and a rope (which was really just the pull-string from a hoodie) off of their list. That took care of some of the more embarrassing things, but neither had a clue where they would go to find a cucumber, chocolate syrup, a speedo, or duct tape on the ship.

"Dunno, not my problem!" Kairi laughed giddily before racing off with Hayner to find whatever else they had on their list.

"She really is like a little kid," Sora mused. "Anyway, we can't exactly walk straight into the cafeteria kitchen and steal a cucumber but maybe we can ask for one. Any ideas for the other three?"

The blonde shrugged her shoulders and locked the car back up. "If there's an ice-cream place, we can borrow the chocolate sauce, and I'm sure one of the maintenance crew will have duct tape. But a speedo…"

Rather than dwelling on it, the pair opted to retrieve the three easier items before trying to figure out how to acquire a speedo. As luck would have it, they were fortunate enough to bump into a one of the maintenance crewmembers fixing an ice-cream machine in the cafeteria. Despite the numerous odd looks and questions, they successfully walked out of the cafeteria with all three items in tow.

"We really should've brought a bag to carry all this stuff in," Sora said while trying to ignore the odd looks other people were giving the two of them.

"At least some of the smaller stuff fits in our pockets though, right?" Naminé laughed nervously.

"Yeah, but unless I put your bra on, there isn't really a good place for us to keep it out of sight. Unless you want to have two bras on at once."

"O-One is enough, thanks." She said that, but the attention they were garnering from carrying around the things they couldn't hide was anything but comfortable.

Continuing to wander around the ship, both tried to think of ways that they could somehow get their hands on a speedo. Despite the relatively large size of the boat, this was still only a ferry, meaning there wasn't a pool or anywhere they might just happen upon a speedo lying around. Not that that would be the most sanitary way to get one, but at least it would keep them from losing the competition. After a quick walk-through of the gift shop, it seemed apparent that the only way to find one would be to ask someone if they could borrow theirs.

"Is that really our only option?" Naminé asked timidly.

"I don't see any other way we could do it," Sora sighed, though the chances of a guy who wasn't a water sports athlete or a creepy old guy owning a speedo, especially one that they were willing to lend out, were almost zero.

"This would be so much easier if that maintenance guy had one he could just give to us," Naminé chortled.

"Eheh, I think we lucked out enough to have found all three of those other things bunched so closely together. The thing is, I don't think there are that many places that are just offering up speedos for the taking."

As if to spite Sora's words, a loudspeaker announcement erupted from somewhere behind him.

"_Aaaaaall right, it's time for our onboard entertainment of the day! First prize for today's contest is…a speedo! Wow, I know these things haven't really been popular since the '70s, but just looking at this beaut makes me want to bring back the fad! Even if you're not the biggest fan, I'm sure someone out there is paired up with their brother's girlfriend in some kind of embarrassing scavenger hunt that makes them look like a total BDSM addict and needs to cross this lovely piece of swimwear off their list!_"

Both Sora and Naminé stopped dead in their tracks and turned around in disbelief. There in front of them was an unbelievably large crowd of people standing in front of a makeshift podium and stage. Hanging high on the colourful backdrop of the stage was, of course, the prized speedo that truthfully looked like it had been worn more than a few times.

"…Why does this feel like something straight out of one of those weird comedy shows Riku watches…?"

"I-I don't think anyone would believe us even if we filmed this…"

The longer they stared at the building crowd, the more unbelievable the whole situation became. Who in their right mind would compete over a used speedo, and why did it seem like that announcer singled out their exact circumstances? The woman standing on stage with the microphone didn't look like someone he or Naminé knew, so they couldn't assume that this was Kairi's doing.

Shaking his head, Sora beckoned Naminé to come with him. "Let's just ignore how impossibly coincidental this all is and take part in it before any more weird stuff starts happening."

"R-Right…"

Without even bothering to see what they would be doing, Sora and Naminé stepped up onto the stage alongside the numerous other contestants. Regardless of the fact that they were competing for a used speedo, neither of the two bothered to wonder why so many others wanted to win it as well, since the situation they were in was already far too ridiculous to question.

"Huh, Sora? What are you doing here?"

The brunet turned around to see none other than his slightly sweaty best friend standing a few feet away from him.

"What the… I think I should be asking you what _you're _doing here, Riku. I haven't seen you since you guys took the sack off of me."

Riku grinned and let the sunglasses on his forehead drop in front of his eyes. "Heh, well, Xion and I needed to patch things up from our little fight. I'll tell you about it later–"

"Please don't."

"–but the reason I'm up here is basically to embarrass her." The silver-haired teen nodded his head towards the audience, where Sora spotted a similarly sweaty but unimpressed-looking Xion. "I don't give a crap about some nasty-looking speedo, but I thought it'd be funny if I won and wore it in front of her all the time. She's too proud to pull me off the stage, so she just has to put up with me being up here."

"You're a real saint, aren't you?"

"Anyway, you didn't tell me why you're here, and with Roxas's girlfriend, no less! Not to mention the cucumber and tape you're holding…"

Sora stole a glance back at Naminé, who seemed distracted by whatever the announcer was saying to the audience. With a sigh, he turned back to Riku and shrugged. "Long story short, Kairi set up a pairs scavenger hunt and we need to get a speedo. For whatever reason, this seems to be the only way for us to get one."

"…So you're trying to win a game…so you can win a different game…?"

"That's one way of putting it."

Riku's quizzical look morphed into a bout of laughter as he patted Sora's shoulder either in pity or to show his support. "Oh man, and now that I think about all that seemingly random stuff the announcer was spouting off earlier, you and Naminé are in that exact situation! Seems like something Hayate and Nagi would go through!"

"Hayate and Nagi?"

"Never mind."

"_Okay, contestants, looks like you're all set to begin our competition! Keep in mind if you don't win this contest, we'll have plenty more throughout the day! Now, since this is the first one, we're starting off with something relatively simple: a big ol' true or false quiz! I'll make a statement, and you guys will stand under either the true sign on this end of the stage or the false sign on the other end! If you get it right, you move on to the next round, and whoever's left standing in the end is the winner!"_

While everyone else cheered in excitement, Sora and Naminé sighed in relief that they had gotten off the hook with something harmless and not all that embarrassing. This scavenger hunt was bad enough on its own; they didn't need some secondary game to torture them as well.

"_Question one! Twilight Town was named because the first settlers thought the time of day was perpetually stuck at dusk."_

As expected, almost everyone on the stage chose false, considering they had just left Twilight Town and it wasn't dusk. If the level of difficulty stayed like this, Sora was confident he could get all the answers correct, but the amount of time it would take to finish might put them in last for the scavenger hunt even if they managed to walk away with the speedo. If that happened, he wasn't even sure what he would do with it; probably give it to Riku.

"_Question two! _Guernica_ is a famous painting that was created by Pablo Picasso in 1937."_

"Huh?!" Sora gawked at the sudden spike in difficulty. Usually these things had a gradual shift to them, so a question like that right after asking about the time of day in Twilight Town seemed rather unfair! He didn't have a clue about art; heck, he wasn't even sure if he knew which famous artists did what, aside from some of the more obvious pieces.

"Come on, Sora, you can't lose now!" Naminé said as she hurried him over to the true side.

"W-Wait, are you sure about this one?" he stammered.

"_The answer is true! Sorry to everyone on the false side, but you are eliminated!"_

None of the losing contestants seemed too upset by the news as they amusedly hopped off the stage to join the crowd. Sora couldn't believe that the second question of the game managed to cut the number of people competing by about half, and was even more surprised that Naminé somehow knew the answer to that so quickly.

"I had no idea you were an art buff," he said to her as they returned to the centre of the stage.

"It's a hobby of mine," she twittered. "Besides, anyone who knows anything about art knows about Picasso!"

"Yeah, geez, Sora, get it together!"

Sora whipped his head around to see Riku grinning beside him. "What? Dude, you know even less about art than I do!"

"True, but when there's a fifty-fifty chance and someone you know seems confident about an answer, you generally follow them."

"_Question three! The colloquially coined term for Kyoto Animation's three major visual novel adaptations is The KyoAni Super Trio."_

Sora again gawked as the question went off on a completely different tangent. Whoever came up with these trivia facts clearly didn't have any sort of theme to work off of. How was anyone supposed to know this stuff?

Turning to Naminé, he scratched his head and chuckled dryly. "Heh, uh, you wouldn't happen to know this one, would you? I mean, animation is related to art, right?"

"It's not really the same kind of art I do though," she answered, anxiously glancing back and forth between the true and false signs.

"_Five seconds!"_

Before either of them could decide, Sora felt a hand aggressively grab onto the back of his shirt and drag him over to the false side. Feeling the hand release his shirt, he looked to see that Riku, with a somewhat angry look on his face, had pulled the couple over. He didn't get a chance to ask the silver-haired teen if he was sure, as the time ran out and the announcer cut in.

"_The answer is false! The colloquial term is The KyoAni Holy Trinity! Everyone who picked true is eliminated!"_

"Riku, how did you–"

""The KyoAni Super Trio?!" What a disgusting fake name to even consider for those shows! To think that Nagisa, Ayu, and Misuzu could have their names soiled by something so…"

Whatever it was that Riku was rambling on about, Sora had no idea, but he didn't want to stop him considering how pissed-off he seemed. As much of a semi-closeted geek that Riku was, the guy usually kept himself in check, though he sometimes did have a tendency to go all out if just the two of them were hanging out.

It was hard to say exactly how long the contest continued on for, but Sora found that he was constantly being pulled back and forth by Naminé and Riku as they answered each question for him. Though he didn't feel bad for having them do so, he did begin to feel less necessary and kind of dumb for not knowing any of these answers. Had he been on his own, there was pretty much no chance that he could even come close to winning.

"_Wow, would you look at that, after seventeen questions we're down to our last three contestants! Everyone give them a hand!"_

The ridiculously large audience erupted in applause as Riku, Naminé, and Sora took centre stage. How the brunet had managed to make it to this point by riding on the coattails of the other two was nothing short of miraculous. With just the three of them remaining, he could feel his pulse quickening, though the exact reason for why that was could not be pinpointed, considering the fact that he no longer had to win to actually get a hold of the prized speedo.

"_Question eighteen! Twilight Town's Clock Tower Hotel is a famous five-star hotel as a place to stay for both business and pleasure, and doubles as one of the main tourist attractions when visiting the city."_

Sora smirked at the attempted trick question. This was the first time since the start of this competition that he had actually known the answer to a question, so he promptly and contentedly sidestepped over to the false sign without bothering to discuss with the others.

"_Excellent, our vote is split two against one!"_

"What?!" Sora looked over to see both Naminé and Riku standing under the true sign, sending troubled and amused looks back at him respectively. "What are you guys doing over there?!"

"Sora, the answer is true!" Naminé called back to him. "My dad is the manager there!"

"Yeah, but I'm the one who actually works there! This was a trick question; it's only a four-star hotel!"

"_Oh my, sounds like this is going to be embarrassing for one of you two! Who will be correct, the chocolate-sauce-loving daughter of the hotel manager or our cucumber-wielding employee here? Drumroll please…and the answer is…true!"_

The crowd laughed as Sora whirled himself around to face the smiling announcer. Once the reaction had died down, she held up a few pieces of paper and faced the shocked brunet.

"_Terribly sorry, but as of two days ago the Clock Tower Hotel was awarded with its fifth star. Those are the facts, and you probably missed a meeting somewhere along the way. Feel free to try again in one of our later competitions!"_

He couldn't help feeling slightly ashamed after the scene he had just made on stage. Stepping down, he shuffled over to where Xion was watching from as Riku and Naminé continued on to the next couple of questions. In the end, Riku ended up losing after mistaking a question about the legend of King Arthur for something he called the Holy Grail War.

Now having all the items on their list crossed off, Sora and Naminé hurried back to the arcade while Riku and Xion followed along for their own amusement. Much to their dismay, Kairi, Hayner, Roxas, and Pence had already returned, but after a quick look around, it looked like Olette and Demyx were yet to arrive, meaning that they would not have to face the punishment game.

"You don't look too happy," Sora said to Kairi as the group reunited. Said redhead was sitting on top of the air hockey table with a rather pouty look on her face.

"Roxas and Pence got here first," she complained, crossing her arms in a huff. "And you two didn't even get here last, so now the whole point of this game is ruined."

Sora scratched the back of his head and chuckled dryly. She certainly wasn't being all too secretive about her ulterior motives. In fact, judging by her current mood, she didn't even seem interested in checking to see if they had even brought back all of the things on their list. He couldn't help feeling a bit agitated after all the work and embarrassment he and Naminé had gone through to get all of that stuff but wasn't about to complain either.

When Olette and Demyx did eventually return, their punishment was rather light, providing a few laughs for the next hour or so but nothing beyond that. Though Demyx did not end up sticking with them the entire time, the group of teens spent most of the remainder of the day making the most out of what they could on the boat: playing games, competing in some of the other ridiculous onboard entertainment, and stopping to relax as if to prepare for all the chaos that would presumably come when they arrived at their destination.

The day passed by quickly, and it didn't feel like a long time before the sun began to sink beyond the sparkling horizon. While everyone else had gone to get food, Sora, who wasn't feeling all that hungry, had wandered onto the highest passenger deck on his own. The constant sea breeze ruffled his spikes as he looked around in all directions, noting the landmass they were traveling towards looming in the distance. Aside from the sound of the intercom reminding all passengers to be ready to disembark at 9:30 a.m. and the machinery within the ship itself, the only thing to be heard out here was the sound of wind and the waves that gently splashed against the sides of the ship. It was a nice juxtaposition after being relatively energetic with the group for the entire day.

"So this is where you wandered off to," Kairi's voice floated in from somewhere behind him. He turned around to see her sauntering over to the railing beside him.

"What can I say?" he chuckled and turned back out towards the water. "Maybe your love for high places is rubbing off on me."

She giggled and leaned her back against the railing, propping her elbows up on the bar. "Haaah, I just want to get to Destiny Islands so that we can really start our vacation. Today was fun and all, but you can't really do much on a boat…plus, I'm still kind of mad about this morning."

"You mean the scavenger hunt?" Kairi nodded and Sora straightened his posture so he could face her more easily. "Why does that matter? You ended up making me do some stupid stuff when you beat me at your other games."

"Yeah, but I wanted to beat you at _all_ the games! And that was the first game, too, so I thought you were going to lose for sure!"

"I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to take that."

With a sigh, Kairi gently took Sora by the hand and led him away from the railing so that she could sprawl out on the ground; she patted the spot beside her as a gesture for him to do the same. He raised an eyebrow at her but shrugged and did as she ordered so that they were now looking straight up at the slowly darkening sky.

"Hey," she said after a few moments of silence, "do you ever wonder how things would be if Roxas hadn't moved out with you?"

Sora gave her a puzzled look and scratched his head as she met his gaze with a completely serious expression. "Where did that come from?"

"Just curious is all."

He turned his gaze back up to the sky and hummed as he thought about it. If Roxas hadn't agreed to come with him and help pay the rent, Sora doubted he would have the funds to support himself, assuming he still moved into the apartment they were currently living in. Unless Riku decided to be his roommate or something, Sora realized that he would probably still be living at Cloud and Tifa's place, at least until he'd saved up enough money after graduation.

"I guess things would go on being the same as they were before I moved out," he voiced his thoughts aloud. "To be honest, I think Roxas and I are only going to stay in the same place until he graduates. We both have enough money and work to support ourselves now, so once the stress of school is gone we can both go our own ways."

"That makes sense," the redhead stated plainly, prompting Sora to cast another puzzled look in her direction. "Neither of you really seems like the type to get lonely too easily, so you'd probably do fine on your own."

Her lavender irises met his blue ones again, and there was a pause as they stared at each other without saying anything.

"What about you?" Sora asked. "You seem like the type to get lonely on your own. I know you don't like Axel, but he still keeps you from feeling lonely, right?"

Kairi laughed softly and rolled onto her side so that she was facing him more directly. "Haha, I think I'd rather feel lonesome than have to put up with him all the time. You're right, though, I like having someone around that I can talk to and stuff. I don't really talk to Axel much at home, but, as much as I hate to admit it, it is kind of nice to have him around if I really _need _to talk to someone right away. He won't admit it, but I know the only reason he hasn't bought his own place is for my sake. He's basically housesitting for my parents and keeping an eye on me until I move out. It's a total pain but kind of nice in an annoying sort of way."

Sora chuckled, glad that he and Roxas were on better terms than she was with her brother. Living comfortably in the small space that they did right now would be next to impossible if they didn't get along with one another. With all that Kairi said about Axel though, the brunet had to wonder what the older Lea sibling thought of his sister. Maybe the disdain really only went in one direction, as Axel had never shown any signs of disliking his sister, at least not in front of Sora.

"Still, I can't wait to get out there on my own," the redhead continued and stretched her arms and legs. "I'm pretty good at meeting people, so I'd probably do just fine if I got a place by myself."

"Heh, you make it sound like you're planning on moving far away or something."

"Who knows? Everyone has to set off on their own at some point, so why stay close to home when there's a whole world to see?"

Sora paused and looked up at the reddish-purple sky again. "Moving out really isn't as glamourous as you make it sound. It seems exciting when you still live at home, but once you've moved out you really start to realize just how much harder everything is."

"Maybe that's just because you didn't distance yourself from home enough. If you and Roxas had risked it all and gone somewhere far like Radiant Garden, I bet you would've gotten used to everything a lot faster."

Sora smirked and let out a breathy chuckle. "Yeah, except that if we had tried something ambitious like that, we probably would've ended up in Hollow Bastion instead of Radiant Garden. Personally, I'd like to avoid living somewhere where I could get shot for going outside at night."

Kairi giggled at his dry sense of humour and rolled onto her back again. "Haha, I guess that's a good reason not to try going there right away. I just want to travel around the world like my parents do. I know their trips are always for business but I still get jealous of how many places they've been to, and whenever they tell me about all the places they've been I can't help trying to imagine being there myself. Traverse Town, Agrabah, Neverland, Land of Dragons, the list goes on forever!"

There was never a doubt in Sora's mind that Kairi was much more ambitious than he was, but to hear her talk about all these faraway places made his world suddenly feel so much smaller. Where was he aspiring to go? What was he aspiring to do? If he stayed where he was, who would even still be around in the next five to ten years? Would they all move forward while he continued to repeat the same daily routine for the rest of his life? It was hard to imagine what things might be like without Riku or Roxas around.

"Heehee, but I guess I'm getting ahead of myself," she said and rolled onto her side again. "For now, the only place I should be thinking about going is Destiny Islands! Gotta live in the now, y'know?"

The spiky-haired teen smirked and dropped his unsure thoughts about the future, sitting up just in time to see the sun finally dip below the horizon. He turned back to Kairi, helped her up, and they both leaned on the railing to talk about all the things she would show them on the islands tomorrow. He had to take her over-the-top explanations with a grain of salt, but he was genuinely excited for some of the things she had in store for them.

As the sky darkened into a star-speckled blanket above them, the couple decided that they had probably better get back to the car so they could sleep, or they would be too tired to do any of the many things Kairi wanted to do the next day.

"Um, Sora?" the redhead spoke before they descended the stairs.

"What's up?"

Without a word or warning, Kairi quickly spun around, pecked him lightly on the cheek, and jogged down the steps. When she reached the bottom, she cupped her hands and called back up to him.

"I'm going to make sure you're not so cynical by the time this trip is over, so you better prepare yourself!"

With that, she took off out of sight, leaving Sora with a slightly warm face. As he sluggishly made his way back to the parking lot, he noticed a dumb smile slowly creeping its way across his lips, and he couldn't seem to make it go away. Every little thing that she did seemed to have some kind of effect on him, and though he wanted to believe that his feelings for her were still just some kind of growing crush, it seemed as though they had skipped a few steps somewhere along the way. When he finally got back to Naminé's SUV, he chuckled under his breath at the sight of the redhead already asleep in the backseat next to Xion. Lying himself down in the seat in front of her, Sora shut his eyes and let his consciousness fade with the dumb smile still on his face.

Only Kairi could make a game that would push his sense of dignity to its limits. Only Kairi could talk about the future so seriously before jumping right back into her usual carpe diem mentality. Only Kairi could unconsciously make him admit to himself that the best reason for staying close to home after moving out was so that he could have the chance to meet her, and that he would do it all over again if he had the chance.

And only Kairi would stuff him back into the potato sack while he was asleep because she thought it would be funny when he woke up the next morning.

* * *

Wow, I'm really glad to be done this chapter; not because I didn't want to write it, but because I've really been pushing myself to get it done so that I can focus on other things (like schoolwork and other writing-related things). Hopefully Sora suddenly knowing that he _like_ likes Kairi didn't happen too suddenly. I wanted him to realize either before or right when they got to Destiny Islands, but they also needed to have some kind of serious-ish talk about their futures to trigger it (for plot reasons).

I ended up putting off this chapter by about an extra week because of how long it took me to write and edit. The first three thousand words or so took probably five days to write (I don't really know why, I was just having a rough time trying to properly figure out the scavenger hunt), and then I sat down the other day and ended up writing the next five thousand in two or three goes. I feel like there are still some things I should have fixed in this chapter, but I couldn't figure out what those things were, so I'll let you guys be the judges since I've edited and revised it a few times already without much luck (I'm looking at you, **PWaP**).

Thanks to **WitsWithMe, maxblast, Painted With a Palette, lordibau, Malcolm Yuy, **and **The V-Blade** for reviewing! Also, really big thanks to almost everyone for leaving me with a longish review! I'm used to getting short- to medium-length reviews most of the time, so its really encouraging when you guys leave me things that I can not only read, but reread and take things away from. Thoughts, constructive criticism, ideas, everything is welcome except flames :)

Thanks for reading and please review!

–_GengaJupite_


	13. Land of the Paopu

Haha, so the plan was to get this posted before the April ended, and I succeeded! I mean, it's the last day, but that still counts :P. Sorry, guys, life has just been getting busier and busier, and it's really hard to find time to write with school, work, other projects, and limited downtime coming into play. That being said, I have a new plan for the future that should help me get more writing done, though it does require some waiting for you guys reading this story in particular.

Basically, I've been writing three stories simultaneously as of February of 2014, and my ability to balance all of them with everything else I'm doing has been falling apart. What I've decided to do is take it one story at a time, which unfortunately means that I'll be going on hiatus with two while I finish one of them, then one of those two will have to remain on hiatus when the first story is finished and I move onto the second one. The details are on my profile, but basically this story drew the short straw and will be put on hiatus until the other two are finished. As much as I'd like to keep writing all three at once, it's just become too much for me to handle. Hopefully the long wait also means that I'll be able to come back to it at full force with a renewed feeling of excitement and inspiration!

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one

* * *

_Land of the Paopu_

"We. Are. Here!"

"…Your enthusiasm is great, but maybe not screaming in the grocery store would be a better idea."

Kairi, with her hands raised high above her head, glanced around the area, noticing the odd looks she was receiving from the other shoppers. Beside her, Sora chuckled as he pushed their shopping cart along.

"Besides, haven't you already cheered six times since we got off the ferry?"

"Boo…" she pouted, resembling a bored child going shopping with their parent. "How come we got stuck with grocery duty while everyone else got to get a head start on all the fun?"

Sora stopped and reached up to grab a couple boxes of cereal off the shelf before checking them off the list the others had made. "Don't complain; wasn't it you who said someone should buy a bunch of food and snacks so we don't have to worry about it during the week?"

"Yeah, but I didn't think that meant _we_ would be the ones to have to do it!"

"…If I'm remembering correctly, you were the one that lost the game and pretty much forced me to come along. And to think that it was the only time I'll ever win at one of your rigged games."

Though she didn't genuinely seem annoyed by the whole situation, Kairi grumbled a bit before running ahead to find the snacks she wanted to buy. She really was just like a child, and Sora couldn't help smirking as she rapidly checked all the shelves for the things she wanted.

Earlier that morning, the group had arrived at the Destiny Islands ferry port on schedule, lifting everyone's spirits as they drove off the ship as enthusiastically as they could. Since the beach house that was their destination was a somewhat long drive from the port, they ended up stopping along the way to figure out what they should do once they got there. Of course, this led to Kairi's competition that resulted in her loss and got her and Sora into the situation they were in now.

Though he hadn't been too reluctant to come along shopping with her, Sora could not deny that he was slightly disappointed he couldn't go along with the others to unpack his bag and, as Kairi put it, get a head start on the fun. On the other hand, this was valuable time alone that he probably wouldn't get much of with Kairi during this trip, though it was not exactly what he'd had in mind for one-on-one time. Nevertheless, thanks to last night's revelation on the ferry, he had resolved to get closer to her by the end of the trip, though what exactly classified as closer was somewhat murky, given their already strange relationship.

For a while they simply went along up and down the aisles, Kairi bringing back too many snacks and Sora having to remind her every time that they only had so much money to spend. He might have found her actions endearing if only he hadn't seen about five other children doing the same thing with their mothers.

"Okay, you can't say no to ice cream, right?!" she exclaimed as they passed by the frozen section.

"Well, it is on the list," Sora said a bit hesitantly, "but that doesn't–"

"Yes! Okay, so we're gonna grab chocolate and vanilla for the basics, and we should get a bunch of fruity flavours too. Ah, this brand's rainbow is the best! Caramel, rocky road, cookie dough: check, check, aaaand check! Heehee, oh, and we'll need to get some syrups and sprinkles and…maybe nuts? I don't usually eat them but we're not just buying for me, right?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, time out, Kairi!" Sora shouted as she dropped at least half a dozen different flavours into the top part of the shopping cart.

"Hmm? What's up?" she asked, seemingly oblivious as she pulled three more from the freezer.

With a raised eyebrow, he simply gestured at what used to be an empty upper portion of the cart that was now filled with various ice creams. As was usual with Kairi, however, she only glanced at the frozen treats and back up at him with an innocently confused look on her face.

"Do you really not see a problem with this?" he asked, stifling a disbelieving chuckle.

"Mm… Oh, I didn't ask what flavour you wanted! Do you like pistachio or licorice or something? I don't think most of the other guys like those ones but if you pay for it, then I'm not one to judge."

Sora sighed. "No, that's not what I meant–"

"Haha, good, I don't think I'm tall enough to reach those ones anyway."

"…That isn't what I meant either. Look, we've only got enough money for three so you'll have to put a bunch of these back."

Even as she pushed out her bottom lip to plead him, Sora had already steeled himself against her puppy-dog attack and shook his head. Running a hand through his spikes, he could only hope this wouldn't drag out too much longer or both of them would end up feeling depressed by the end of all this: Kairi because she couldn't get what she wanted and him because he had to be the responsible one, which meant continuously turning her down.

"So…" Sora said after Kairi put all the ice cream back and sulked beside him. "What did you want to do first when we're done all of this? You didn't suggest anything earlier because you were too excited to play your punishment game."

Still sulking, she lazily glanced at Sora before facing forward again. "It doesn't matter; I was just excited to get here and now we're stuck with the most boring job in the world."

"Heh, oh, come on, you're exaggerating. Look, we only have to get a few more things off this list. Naminé said to call once we had everything and she'd come pick us up."

Kairi shook her head, her read locks swaying back and forth. "Let's not spoil her fun; it's only about a twenty-minute walk from here to the beach house anyway."

Sora furrowed his brow and scratched the top of his head. If it was only a short trip from the store to the house, why didn't everyone just come along? It would have made this go a lot smoother, and it would be much easier to bring everything back.

Regardless, the two finished the rest of their shopping soon after, and Kairi's mood picked up the moment she stepped into the sunlight. With an enthusiastic skip in her step, she quickly created a gap between the two of them as she led the way towards the house. As much as Sora would have liked to catch up to her, the five bags he was carrying, one of which contained a watermelon, were effectively preventing him from doing so. Luckily the streets here weren't quite as dense as Twilight Town's, so all he had to do was make sure that Kairi didn't veer off on any sudden turns or hidden paths. It wouldn't be the first time she'd taken him on a shortcut, only for that "shortcut" to take twice as long as going the normal way would have.

Luck seemed to be on his side, as there was only one turn in their path, and Kairi excitedly pointed to the house in the distance while waiting for him to catch up.

"Look, look, it's just down the road here!"

From this distance it was difficult to tell, but assuming the house he was looking at was the one she meant it really didn't seem as big as she had hyped it up. It wasn't what he would call small by any means, but the only thing he could tell about it right now was that it looked a bit bigger than the other houses around here.

"Let's hurry or all the frozen stuff is gonna melt!" she said, hooking their arms together and pulling him along.

"Ah, Kairi, hang on a sec!"

His plea was met with deaf ears, as her pace seemed to quicken with each sidewalk panel they stepped on. It was anyone's guess how she managed to drag him along with all of the bags they were carrying, and Sora found himself stumbling behind her for the umpteenth time since they'd met. He couldn't think of it being anything short of a miracle that he didn't drop anything or lose a sandal when they reached the end of the street.

With a grin, Kairi released his arm and stood the out-of-breath brunet up straight. "We. Are. Here!"

Though he couldn't respond verbally at the moment, Sora acknowledged her enthusiasm with a nod and looked up to the beach house behind her. Now that they were closer, he could see that the house didn't seem any larger because he wasn't able to see its depth from a distance. From the front, it looked like a slightly bigger house, but if he stepped to the side a bit, the building extended much farther out than he was expecting.

The large front doors swung open before them, surprising Sora while Kairi simply laughed. Stepping through the entryway, Sora gazed open-mouthed at the pristine interior and the décor that practically screamed "Rich people live here!" Once they were in, the doors shut behind them, and he whirled around to see a well-groomed man wearing a tuxedo heading into another room.

"Heehee, what's with the funny look on your face?" Kairi twittered and gestured for him to follow her.

"I-I feel like I just walked into a mansion…" Sora exhaled meekly. "If this is your summer house, I can't even begin to imagine what your actual house is like."

Kairi laughed again. "My house back home isn't as nice as this place. It's a vacation home, so my and Naminé's parents wanted it to feel…I dunno, luxurious or something."

"Yeah, but they hired a butler too?! I thought butlers were like some rich-person stereotype that didn't actually exist."

"Butler?" Kairi cocked her head but her eyes lit up when she realized what he meant. "Oh, the guy who let us in isn't a butler! He's just the caretaker while we're away."

"Then why was he wearing a tuxedo?!"

"Was he? I didn't notice; maybe he's going to a wedding later."

If his hands weren't full at the moment, Sora probably would have slapped one to his forehead right now. All this time he thought that Kairi was just a regular, though slightly eccentric girl whose parents happened to be successful businesspeople. Now that he was walking down these gilded hallways with all their fancy, ornate decorations and whatnot, he couldn't help feeling like a bum that had developed a crush on some rich girl. If things kept going at this pace, he'd probably end up finding a genie before this trip was over.

"Oh, there you are, Heathcliff!" Kairi greeted someone as they entered the kitchen. Sora was surprised to see the stone-faced "caretaker who isn't a butler" standing before them. "Whoa, nice tux! You going to a party or something?"

"I feel most comfortable in this attire." His response was immediate and rather monotonous. Sora couldn't tell if this Heathcliff guy was standoffish or just not that expressive.

"Haha, that's weird, but whatever floats your boat! Anyway, would you mind putting all these things away for us? Oh, and do you know where everybody went off to?"

"Certainly, Miss Kairi. Miss Naminé and the others went to designate rooms. I believe they are still unpacking."

"Okay, thanks! Oh, and before I forget!" Dropping her bags on the ground, Kairi stepped up to Heathcliff and fist-bumped him. "See ya later!"

Awkwardly following her lead, Sora also let his bags down and went after Kairi without fist-bumping the stone-faced man. Once they were out of earshot, the brunet couldn't help letting out a few chuckles, causing the redhead to question his seemingly spontaneous laughter.

"What's so funny?"

"Funny? Nothing's funny at all, _Miss_ Kairi."

Unexpectedly, Kairi's cheeks took on a slightly pink hue, though her laughter showed that she was more amused than anything else.

"Ahaha, shut up! He's called me that ever since he started working here, and no matter what I say, he always insists on calling me that."

"Aw, life must be so hard for the rich girl when her butler won't listen to her."

"He's not a butler; he's a housekeeper!"

Sora laughed loudly as he continued to tease Kairi. Rarely did he get a chance to poke fun at the redhead, and even more rarely did she ever show any signs of being embarrassed. As slight as the redness of her cheeks was, this was too good of an opportunity not to take advantage of, and luckily she didn't seem to be too opposed to his teasing.

"You two seem chummy, as usual." Both teens stopped their banter for a moment, looking forward to see Riku smirking at them in naught but his swimwear.

"Nah, I was just teasing her about her butler," Sora laughed, earning a playful punch to his shoulder.

"Heathcliff isn't a butler! He just watches the house while we're away."

"Heh, I'm pretty sure that's what butlers do for a living."

Riku laughed as well. "Haha, you know, Naminé said the exact same thing to me when I called that dude a butler. Anyway, we're gonna head down to the beach, so you guys should get changed soon."

To anyone else, Riku's words would have seemed natural and a fairly regular way to inform them of what the group was planning to do; however, Sora, having known Riku for almost his entire life, instantly felt disconcerted by the tone of his best friend's voice. He scrunched his face slightly, but was only met with Riku's unchanged smirk.

"Sounds good! Where'd you put our stuff?" Kairi responded before Sora had the chance to call him out.

"Over here. We kind of chose rooms already, so you guys got left with what was left over. We put your bags there though, so you can unpack and meet us at the beach once you're done, ah, _changing_."

The hesitation before he said 'changing' should have been obvious enough for anyone to catch, but Kairi seemed too preoccupied with talk of the beach to care about Riku's speech patterns. Sora glowered at the silver-haired teen, but was met only with a mischievous grin as Riku pulled his sunglasses over his eyes.

They followed Riku as he led them down the hall. Sora could hear the others' voices coming from some of the open room doors up ahead, and he spotted Roxas and Hayner wrestling their way out of one. When the two boys spotted the three of them coming, they didn't wave or greet them, but rather stopped and began laughing before they peacefully headed back into the room they'd just tumbled out of. If Riku's behaviour wasn't suspicious enough already, what he just saw was enough to put Sora on edge. Instead of making a scene of it, the brunet inconspicuously stepped right beside his best friend.

"What are you planning?" he mumbled quietly enough that Kairi wouldn't hear.

"Something bothering you, Sora?" Riku softly chuckled back. "You seem a little paranoid."

"Damn right, I'm paranoid. You think I don't know when you're plotting something?"

"Relax, man. This time around it's actually for your benefit. I doubt you'll believe me but you'll see in a few seconds."

With that, the taller teen stepped away from Sora before stopping in front of an open doorway. Sora scrutinized every detail of the rather ordinary doorway, checking to see if there was something strange about the wooden threshold. He even went so far as to knock on the wood and stick his hand through the entryway to check, so he was somewhat relieved but made even more anxious when nothing happened.

"Uh, Sora? What are you doing?" Kairi asked from behind him. "Oh, and is this my room or Sora's?"

The moment those words left Kairi's mouth and flowed into Sora's ears, he perked straight up and whipped around to face Riku. The victim of Sora's glare was practically quivering from how hard he was trying not to laugh, knowing that his friend had clearly picked up on what the prank was.

"A-Actually," Riku stammered, "it's both your room."

Before either had a chance to say anything to him, Riku burst out laughing, holding his stomach as he tried to speak. It wasn't so much a prank as it was a nuisance, and Sora rolled his eyes at how simplistic this whole thing was. Considering how big this house was, it wouldn't be all that difficult to grab his bag and take another room.

"Oh, and don't bother trying to take another room," the laughing teen managed to say between his snickers. "All the other ones are full."

"You really don't think I can find some other place to sleep?" Sora argued. "There's bound to be tons of extra rooms in this house."

Riku shook his head. "Nope, according to Naminé there are seven bedrooms, two of which are the parents' rooms. Let's see, we've got Xion and me, Demyx and Pence, Hayner and Roxas, Naminé and Olette, Axel gets his own room, and so does his buddy, Saïx or something. Look who's left to share the last room! 'Course, I doubt the sleeping arrangements are going to stay like this since, y'know, Roxas and Hayner would probably rather sleep with their girlfriends than each other, but you two will still be left on the outs."

Instead of responding to his slightly hysteric friend, Sora stepped into the room to confirm that his and Kairi's bags were indeed placed on the only bed. He still wasn't entirely sure why this was so funny, as he could always go sleep on a couch if it came down to it. Again, this house wasn't exactly small or lacking in rooms, even if most of them weren't meant to be bedrooms.

"Anyway, it shouldn't be that big a deal for you two," Riku laughed as he and Kairi followed Sora in. "You told me all about that time you had a little too much to drink and passed out together."

"You're twisting my words."

"Haha, well, I guess I should give you guys some privacy while you _get changed_. Meet us down by the beach when you're done _changing_."

And with that, Riku was out of the room. Sora stayed rooted to the spot as the others jovially passed by and headed towards the beach. For a while, neither he nor Kairi said anything, simply standing next to each other as they stared at the bags on the bed. It was just a dumb prank, so there was no need for him to feel anything other than mildly inconvenienced. Even if Riku were to go as far as locking them in the room together, all Sora had to do was sleep on the ground. He honestly had no issues with sleeping in the same room as Kairi, and there was no way they could somehow force the two of them into bed together.

Sora shook his head to clear the thought from his mind. He only just realized he liked Kairi; it was too soon to be jumping to those stages.

"Hehe, this is a pretty lame prank, considering the kinds of stuff Riku usually pulls on me," he chuckled. Kairi made no signs of responding; in fact, now that he thought about it, she hadn't said anything since she asked whose room this was. "Uh, Kairi? You okay?"

He waved his hand in front of her face and snapped a couple of times before she finally noticed his actions. With a brief shivering motion, she bonked herself on the head and turned to him with the same smile as always.

"Hah, sorry, I kind of zoned out there," she said, sticking out her tongue. "Anyway, we've got time to figure out sleeping stuff later, so why don't we just get changed for now and head down to meet them?"

Sora was somewhat taken aback by her straightforward and uncharacteristically levelheaded response. He was actually expecting some sort of teasing out of her, so it took him a moment to regain his composure.

"Oh, uh, sure. I'll…go get changed in the bathroom or something; just let me grab my stuff."

Once again, he was expecting some kind of flirty comment about how he didn't want to get changed together, but was caught off-guard by Kairi's simple "'Kay" as a response. Did she have something on her mind? Up until this stupid incident she'd seemed as upbeat and excitable as always, if not more than usual.

As hard as he tried, Sora couldn't shake the thought from his mind. Once they had both changed, the two of them started making their way down to the beach, and Kairi, despite seeming like her usual self, was oddly restrained. Normally he would welcome such a change from someone who tended to be more than a little over-the-top, but they were on vacation; this was the best time for her to be going at it at full force!

Still, this wasn't something he could bring up, at least not right now. Even if she was aware of how she was behaving, it was obvious that she was trying to act the same as always. Hopefully he would be able to mention it later without causing her any distress, and if all went well, her reasoning would be something completely unrelated to him or anything legitimately troubling.

Content with that thought, the two teens quickly headed out to where their friends were really getting a start on this tropical vacation.

キングダムハーツキングダムハーツキングダムハーツ

"Taking a break, huh?" Olette chuckled as Sora flopped down beside her.

"Heh, I like playing around as much as the next person, but trying to keep up with all these people who seem to have limitless supplies of energy can be tough."

Thankful for the shade of the umbrella, Sora sat up to get a look at the aforementioned bundles of energy. Just like earlier, Roxas and Hayner were wrestling around in the water, though they were supposed to be tossing a beach ball back and forth to each other. Riku, as usual, was play bickering with Xion about something or other, and Naminé and Pence were off checking out something by the rocks. Axel and his friends had been there until a short while ago, saying they had something to take care of, which only left…

"Hey, where'd Kairi run off to?" Sora pondered, making the logical assumption that she didn't leave with her brother.

"Mm, now that you mention it, I think I saw her head down the beach by herself a little while ago." Olette pointed in the direction she had seen the redhead go. "I don't know if she told anyone, though. Heehee, you gonna go check on her?"

Sora scratched the back of his head and swayed his body a bit before ultimately lying back down on his towel. "Maybe I shouldn't; if she wanted to be alone, then it wouldn't make any sense for me to go bug her."

Olette sighed and gave him what appeared to be a pitying smile. "You know, you'll never get anywhere with her if you always take the 'sit back and watch' approach."

"I'm not…exactly taking that approach; I'm just, y'know, not trying to take the initiative for this thing specifically."

"Hmm."

He did what he could to avoid the gaze of her emerald eyes. Sora had never really thought of Olette as a particularly intense person, but it was impossible to deny his discomfort from her stare. Knowing that she was typically the more logical one among Roxas's group of friends made her words, mixed with this current situation, all the more vexing. Thankfully, she readopted her regular demeanour within a few moments and averted her heavy gaze from him.

"Well, whatever, you should do what you think is right," she spoke lightheartedly, no signs of sarcasm coming from her voice. "I'm gonna go see what Pence and Nami are up to, so…yeah, do what you've gotta do!"

Sora watched as she stood, brushed some stray grains of sand from her body, and sauntered out of his field of vision. With a sigh, he slowly sat up and looked around at the others, finding himself in yet another situation where he was sitting alone at the beach while everyone around him was doing something fun. Perhaps he should forget everything that Olette had just said to him and rejoin the activity. Then again, there wasn't exactly a group for him to go over to: wrestling with Roxas and Hayner would exhaust him, getting into Riku and Xion's argument sounded anything but fun, and he would feel really awkward following Olette after that whole situation.

"Ah, I swear, she frickin' planned this, didn't she," he grumbled and reluctantly started getting to his feet. Slipping on his flip-flops, the brunette shuffled his way across the sand in the direction Kairi had supposedly wandered off to.

Walking off the private beach on the summer house's property, the voices of vacationers and the general public soon began to overtake the rolling ocean waves. He could only hope and assume that Kairi had not assimilated herself somewhere amongst the crowd. It wasn't entirely impossible that she had spotted some people she knew and was hanging out with them, but he wanted to avoid searching for her somewhere within this rapidly growing crowd of beachgoers.

Sora chewed his lip and brought his hand up to his forehead, regretting not borrowing Riku's sunglasses as he tried to scan the area for redheads. Of course, Kairi was not the only one in existence, and he was beginning to grow irritated with each redhead he spotted, only to realize that it wasn't the one he was searching for.

"Really, the things I do for this girl," he grumbled, though his lips slightly curled upward at the thought. Considering the things she'd put him through, this could hardly be called a trial; hell, this was more for his benefit than hers!

Though he wasn't wearing a watch, Sora could only guess that he had been looking around for about twenty minutes or so. He didn't want to give the others any ideas (seeing as both he and Kairi were missing at the same time), and it seemed as though Kairi would not be found around here no matter how hard he searched. Making the decision to go back and forget about her for now, the brunet gave one final scan of the area before turning around.

As fate would have it, however, he was forced to spin back around as he looked over at a small island in the distance. It wasn't far offshore, and there was a bridge connecting it to the mainland. While it was difficult to see, there looked to be a person with red hair sitting on an oddly bent tree. From this distance he couldn't be sure that person was Kairi, let alone if they were even a girl, but if that turned out to be her and he simply turned back to rejoin the others, then there would definitely be some sort of remorseful feeling left in him. Running his hands through his hair in frustration at his indecision, Sora took a breath and forced himself to head towards the island, pushing the thoughts of the others teasing him to the back of his mind.

While he weaved around the clusters of people and their belongings laid out along the sand, he began to wonder if Kairi's strange mood earlier had contributed to her going off in solitude. She hadn't seemed depressed or upset by anything, simply subdued from her usual self. He couldn't imagine that she had some sort of bad memory associated with this place; otherwise, she wouldn't have invited him here. The only logical idea would be that it had something to do with the stupid prank that Riku had pulled, but something like that would usually be too miniscule to even garner any notice from the redhead. It didn't seem to make sense that that had actually gotten to her in some way.

Stepping up onto the grassy section where the actual walkway was, Sora carefully stepped onto the bridge lacking railings. The closer he got to the island, however, the more laboured and heavy his footsteps began to feel, and he soon found himself advancing at a sloth-like pace. He had not even considered what he might say to Kairi if, indeed, she was acting unlike her usual self, and even if he had, what right did he have to go prying into what seemed to be some kind of personal matter of hers? Despite her eccentricities, she had never once forced him to talk about anything sensitive, and while he certainly wasn't planning on forcing her to do anything, it seemed like going about this might come across as such.

It felt like eons before he finally stepped foot onto the sparse grass of the island, and his heart was pumping so powerfully that he was afraid Kairi might hear it before he actually said or did anything. The fact that she for some reason was the only person on this little island aside from himself was even more cause for his current nervousness. Trying to exhale as calmly as he could, Sora gulped and gingerly made his way toward her.

"Hey, what are you doing out here?" he asked a bit shakily.

Though unsurprised, Kairi gave him a look that clearly showed she was not expecting someone to come talk to her.

"Oh, hey, Sora," she greeted in what sounded like the subdued version of her voice. "Nothing, really, just thought I'd get a little alone time since we're all going to be doing stuff together for the rest of the trip."

He went and leaned against the trunk of the tree she was sitting on. "Makes sense, though you could have let us know you were going somewhere. I was…I mean, Olette was worried when you disappeared."

She looked at him briefly before turning to face the water again. "Oh, was she? Whoops, ehehe, sorry. I didn't really think it would be a big deal if I wandered off for a bit."

There was nothing wrong with this subdued character she was displaying, but Sora couldn't help feeling that this just wasn't…Kairi. Glancing down at his crossed arms, he found that his fingers were unconsciously tensing against his biceps, and this was all such an unusual situation.

They managed to keep a relaxed conversation of mostly small talk going, but the more she said, the less Kairi seemed like herself. He'd been hoping not to ask, but at this rate it almost seemed stranger for him not to. Buckling down, the brunet scratched his head as he peered out to the horizon.

"Um, Kairi…" he started slowly. "Are you…feeling okay?"

"Hmm? I guess," she answered flatly. "How come?"

"Oh, well…it's just that you've seemed…I dunno, a little different today is all."

He briefly glanced at her to see the redhead tap a finger to her chin. "Different, huh? Well, I mean, I'm pretty excited to be here if that's what you mean."

"N-Not exactly… You did seem pretty energetic this morning, but…maybe that wore you out a bit or something?"

"Heehee, do I look sleepy or something?"

Sora twiddled his fingers a bit as he tried to think of the best way to go about saying this. She didn't seem down but she definitely wasn't anywhere close to being as happy-go-lucky as usual. To be honest, the way she was acting right now was just like a regular person, which would sound awful if he were to say it out loud. Saying subdued might lead to the same conclusion as regular, but those two things were the only words he could think to describe her properly.

"No," he exhaled. "It's just that you're…uh…well, I guess the best way to put it would be to say that you don't seem as upbeat as usual. Yeah, uh, I think I noticed right after Riku pulled his dumb prank."

She seemed to freeze when he mentioned the moment he noticed, which didn't feel very good on his conscience. It only took a couple seconds for her to recuperate, but those few seconds were more uncomfortable than he cared to admit.

"O-Oh, haha, don't worry about that, Sora," she reassured him rather unconvincingly. "It didn't have anything to do with the prank itself, but I got reminded of something and I guess it made me feel a little funny. I'm totally fine now, though! You'll see, by the time I get back to our beach, I'll be back to my usual self!"

She certainly didn't seem like she would be back to normal by the time they got back to the private beach, but he didn't want to push his luck by pressing the matter any further than he already had. With only a simple nod, Sora quietly accepted her answer.

"A-Anyway," Kairi added, doing what she could to segue out of this heavier atmosphere, "I didn't just come out here to get some alone time; I was trying to get some fruits!"

"Huh? Fruits?" Sora sent a skeptical look her way, to which she giggled and gestured to the top of the oddly bent tree. It had grown in such a way that the trunk was almost completely horizontal for about three metres before it curved upwards again over the water. Just under the palm fronds were some star-shaped fruits.

"Bet you've never seen one of those before," she twittered and hopped onto the ground beside him. "It's called a paopu. I was gonna grab a bunch but I'd either have to drop them in the water or risk bruising them by tossing them onto this island."

"Tossing them in the water first doesn't seem so bad, does it? I mean, all you'd have to do is drop them, jump in and bring them back onto land."

"Hehe, well, the other issue is that I might get in trouble if someone caught me." She laughed and pointed to a sign that read 'Please do not pick the wild paopu.' Sora must have missed seeing it earlier due to his nerves getting the better of him. "Technically we're supposed to buy some from the concession stand or at a grocery store. They're pretty cheap since they grow all over the place here, but they always taste better when you pick them fresh yourself."

"I see. So have you come up with some plan to get them or are you giving up?"

Her devilish grin was the only answer he needed. "Ha, me, give up? It's like you don't know me at all, Sora! No, now that you're here, I'm going to climb up and toss them to you so that they don't get bruised! You'd better not drop any or all my hard work will go to waste!"

She hopped up onto the trunk again and carefully began shuffling her way towards the top. Considering her hair and the pink bikini she was wearing, he was thinking that they probably should have reversed roles, as he wouldn't stand out nearly so much to anyone who happened to look in this direction. It was too late for that now, though, as Kairi was already beginning to crawl up the more vertical section of the trunk.

"Hey," he called up to her as she neared the top of the tree, "how are we going to hide them on our way back? Won't it be pretty obvious that we broke the rules if we walk off this island with a bunch of paopus with us?"

"We don't have to hide them, silly. Remember, you can buy them at the concession stand just over there, so if we get far enough from the island, then it'll just look like we bought a bunch."

"Yeah, but how will we–"

"Catch!"

The first paopu came flying at him like a shuriken, and Sora was barely able to keep it from falling to the ground. He had always been pretty average when it came to sports, so there was a good chance he would drop at least one of these. Maybe it was a good idea that they hadn't traded roles, because, now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure he was athletic enough to climb a shaky tree and keep hold of the trunk with one hand and his legs while the other picked fruits and passed them down.

"Here's number two!" Kairi called as the next one came at a more manageable speed.

This continued for about four more fruits, and so far he had managed to catch all of them, though Kairi's inconsistent methods of throwing meant that he was constantly on his toes. Thankfully, it seemed that no one had noticed their illegal paopu picking, so he let out a sigh of relief when Kairi began shuffling her way back down the trunk of the tree.

"Nice!" she cheered, hopping onto the ground and looking over their haul. "I would grab some more off of the other tree, but I don't know if we'll be able to carry too many."

Indeed, since each fruit was a bit bigger than his hand, Sora wasn't exactly eager to try handling more than four of these at once.

"So," he said, "how do you plan on getting these far enough from the island that we're in the clear?"

Kairi blinked at him like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We swim out towards our beach for a while and then walk onto the sand once we're not close to the island anymore."

Sora let his head drop as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Then why didn't you just let them drop into the water in the first place? It would've saved me the trouble of having these things flung at me!"

"Haha, that wouldn't be any fun! Besides, now I know I can count on you if we're ever playing catch."

"I seriously doubt we're ever going to just decide to play catch…"

The redhead cutely stuck out her tongue at him and scooped three of the six paopu fruits into her arms before jumping into the water. Considering it was too late for him to suggest a better method of bringing them back, Sora lazily picked up the remaining three and followed her lead.

The water was fairly shallow, allowing both teens to bob along as they put some distance between themselves and the paopu island. Looking to his right, Sora could see the dark section where the drop off in the water was. Tropical fish darted around his legs as he hopped along behind Kairi, and he couldn't help any ticklish twitches he made as they did so.

They emerged on land after a short while, looking like some kind of treasure hunters that had returned with golden stars as their reward. Side by side, Sora and Kairi relaxed a bit as they walked along the wet sand, allowing the surging water from the small waves to splash along their ankles.

"I guess Nami and I will have to split these between everybody when we get back," Kairi chuckled lightly.

"Why's that? They're big enough that we could all probably share them."

"Oh, I guess I never told you. There's some old legend that you're supposed to share it with someone special because your destinies become intertwined if you do. Wouldn't be very romantic if all nine of us shared one, would it?"

Sora couldn't help smirking at what sounded like some kind of made-up, touristy legend meant to sell more of these fruits. She did say they were pretty cheap around the island, but considering this so-called legend, couples probably bought enough on a regular basis for it to be profitable.

"By the way," she added, her voice losing its usual bubbliness, "um…about earlier."

His insides tensed up as he prepared for her to say something unpleasant. He had no idea what it might be, but it would not be a terrible assumption to think it might be bad.

"Actually, never mind," she exhaled, which only caused him more grief over the situation. "Sora, I…um…well, I don't really know how many chances we'll get during this trip, but if it's possible…do you think…we could talk in private at some point?"

He twisted his mouth while trying to think of the proper response to give. "Heh, why are you being so formal about it? I don't mind, and technically we _are_ sharing a room right now, so I'm sure that we'll have at least a few minutes to ourselves."

Kairi shook her head, an uncharacteristically serious expression taking over her face. "If it isn't too much trouble…I'd rather we did it somewhere where none of the other guys will hear us."

"Uh…y-yeah, sounds fine to me. I don't really know what we'll be getting up to, so just…pull me aside whenever there's an opportune moment. Hah…"

The serious look she had slowly softened into a gentle, somewhat troubled-looking smile. With a quick exhale, Kairi skipped ahead a few steps and faced backwards with a grin on her face, seeming to readopt her usual personality. Sora still hadn't fully processed what had just happened, so he could only watch as the girl he liked merrily squished the sand between her toes and splashed along the wake of the waves.

He didn't know when this serious conversation would happen, nor what it would entail, but it was obvious from the get-go that this would not be something she would act so serious about unless it was something he was prepared to steel himself for. And so, all he could do now was swallow his insecurities and wait until this talk was brought upon him.

Though, with this inevitable conversation now awaiting him, he wasn't so sure he wanted precious alone time with Kairi anymore.

* * *

Yay, they're finally here on Destiny Islands! And right off the bat there's some stuff going on with Kairi! Since I probably won't be back to this story for a while now, I feel that it's only fair that I give some kind of hint (though it'll be super vague). The hint is that there has been some mention of what might be troubling her now in one of the previous chapters (maybe more but I know there's one for sure). That's all I'll say for now, and you can feel free to guess what it is, though I won't confirm nor deny anything you guys might come up with :)

Anyway, to reiterate what I said at the top, I will, unfortunately, be putting this story on hiatus for a while. It has nothing to do with not wanting to write this or any lack of enjoyment (honestly, I drew numbers out of a jar and that's how I decided which stories to write in what order); I simply don't have the time or ability to keep track of all three stories at once. I'm hoping to have the first story finished by the end of summer (mid-September at the latest), and while I'm not 100% certain about whether I'll only do the second story after that or try doing that one and this one at the same time (I've managed two stories at once fairly well before), I will definitely keep things updated on my profile so you guys know what's going on.

Thanks to **Dark Waffle, Audrey, Painted With a Palette, hideki411, SiChri, **and** Guest** for reviewing!

Thanks for reading and please review! Also a big thanks to everyone who plans to wait out the hiatus while I get things figured out!

–_GengaJupite_


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